Betting to Lose
by supernaturalsam
Summary: COMPLETE! Joe goes to Las Vegas to get away from everything. But then he wakes up in his hotel room one morning to find a dead body in his bed and blood all over his hands. PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Default Chapter

**Author's Note: It's about timeI got another story up, huh? But I had a lot going on: a niece and nephew were born, I'm trying to get enrolled in school, quitting my job, and I was participating in my local March of Dimes Walk. **

**Everyone may not agree with this story. But since when have I written anything that everyone has agreed on? LOL! This story takes place about eight months after Frank and Nancy's wedding. Frank is 23, Nancy is 22, and Joe is 21. I really hope that you do enjoy this and as always, let me know what you think, good or bad.**

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Twenty-one year old blonde-haired, blue-eyed Joe Hardy was on a roll. And a good one at that. It was on of the few times that he could proudly call himself a winner. All he could say was that Lady Luck was definitely on his side.

Joe had decided a couple of days ago that he needed a break from everything–his brother, his classes, his cases, everything about Bayport. So two days ago he boarded a plane and made his way to Sin City–Las Vegas, Nevada. And he had to admit that it was a good idea. Sure, he could have easily went to Atlantic City, but where was the fun in that? Where was the adventure?

But what was bad is that he didn't tell anyone where he was going. He was sure that they were worried about him, but a part of him didn't really care. Everyone had their own thing going for them now. Nancy and Frank had each other and it seemed as if nothing else really mattered to them. Of course, they had went through a lot to get to where they were now and he couldn't blame them. They still cared for him and always checked in with him, but they had their own lives to worry about now.

When Joe first arrived in Las Vegas, he didn't really intend to gamble. He just wanted to get away from everything and be by himself. He had even told himself that he would just lock himself in his hotel room and stay away from everything. But when he looked out his window and saw the hustle and bustle outside, he knew it wouldn't be long before he joined them as well. Besides, they was he figured it, life was just a big gamble anyway. So what if he lost a little money while he was here. That's what was expected of people when they showed up here.

He withdrew one hundred dollars from his checking account and decided to hit the slots. If he didn't win, oh well. He was having a good time and just relaxing. And if he won, well that just made things a little more interesting.

Joe had walked around the Saraphina Casino for a while until he made his way to the quarter slots. He found an empty seat and he had been playing it for an hour. He had to admit that he was doing fairly well, too. He had already won fifty dollars which is more than he thought he would. He looked at his watch to see that it was fifteen minutes till midnight.

_I'll just play one more time, _Joe thought to himself. He put three more quarters in the slot and pulled the lever. He smiled to himself when he won twenty-five more dollars. It wasn't much, but at least it was more money in his pocket.

_Yep, _he thought as he collected the money in his cup. _Lady Luck has definitely been on my side tonight._

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Joe's eyes fluttered open as the first rays of sunlight flashed over his handsome face. He looked at the watch on his wrist and saw that it was seven o'clock. _Way too early to get up, _he thought miserably. He had stayed up too long the night before. In fact, he didn't even remember getting into his room and going to sleep.

Joe turned over in his bed and felt something right beside him. He opened his eyes to slits to see that a person was lying right beside him.

"That's weird." he said aloud to himself.

Joe opened his eyes all the way to see that it was a woman. He totally didn't remember this. Was he in the wrong room by mistake?

Joe sat up in the bed and immediately regretted the idea. He could now see that the woman's eyes were open and she was staring blankly at the ceiling. He looked at her chest to see that blood was everywhere. He jumped out of the bed in a panic and then noticed his own hands covered in blood.

"What is happening here?" he asked.

Joe then spotted a large butcher knife lying on the floor beside his bed. He could feel himself starting to get sick. He had no idea what was going on here. He thought that maybe someone was trying to play a joke on him. He reached over and felt for a pulse on the woman's neck, but found no sign of one.

"Oh, God." he said. He reached for the bedside phone and didn't even worry about the blood that he was putting all over it. He dialed 911 and an operator answered on the first ring.

"911–what's your emergency?" she asked.

"I need to report a murder." Joe said, almost in a daze.

"Excuse me, sir? Did you say that you needed to report a murder?" she asked in a slow voice.

"Yes." Joe said. "A woman's been murdered in my hotel room. And I think I may have done it."

"Sir, you need to tell me right where you are." She said.

"Saraphina Hotel." Joe said. "Room 817."

"I'm sending a unit out right now. I need you to remain in your room until they get there." The woman said and hung up the phone.

Joe sat on the recliner chair and just stared at the woman's body. He felt like everything inside of him had turned to ice. He couldn't move and could hardly even breathe. He closed his eyes and tried to remember everything from the previous night, but nothing was coming to him. He knew he had played the slots for a while in the downstairs casino, but everything after that was a complete blur.

But Joe did know one thing: A woman had been murdered in his room and right now he looked like the most likely suspect.

Joe didn't know how long it was before he heard a knock on his hotel door.

"Las Vegas Police! Open up!" ordered a gruff voice.

Joe went to the door and opened it slowly to see a two officers with their hands on their guns.

"Did you report a murder, sir?" The tall, well-built officer asked.

Joe nodded his head and stepped back to let the officers in. They took one look at the woman and then turned to face Joe. The same officer who spoke to Joe pulled out a pair if handcuffs.

"Sir, I need you to face the wall and put your hands behind your back." he said.

Joe didn't offer any resistance.

"Sir, you are under arrest on the charge of murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law..."

Joe tuned out the rest of what the officer was saying. The only thing he could think was that Lady Luck was not on his side anymore.

**Author's Note: Yes, here is another one. I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, but at least it get you started on what should come. I know this chapter focuses on Joe, but don't worry–Frank and Nancy will be on soon. Just let me know what you think!**


	2. Wanting to Remember

Hundreds of miles away in Chicago, Illinois, Nancy Drew slept peacefully next to her husband, Frank Hardy. She was sleeping soundly without a care in the world. They had been happily married now for almost eight months. They lived in a modest, one-story home on a quiet neighborhood right out of the city limits.

Nancy let out a loud groan as the phone started to ring at ten that morning.

"Just let it ring." Frank said beside her.

"It may be work." Nancy said softly.

"Let the machine pick it up." Frank said.

"I can't." Nancy said.

"We're supposed to be on vacation, Nan." Frank said.

Nancy reached for the phone on the bedside table. "Hello."

"Nan..." Joe Hardy's voice sounded from the other end.

"It's your brother." Nancy said to Frank. "What's up, Joe?"

"I'm kind of in a jam." Joe said. "Is Frank there?"

"Yeah. He's right here beside me." Nancy said. "Do you wanna talk to him?"

"No. I'd rather talk to you." Joe said.

"So, what kind of jam are you in?" Nancy asked.

"I'd rather tell you when you get here." Joe said. "Can you be on the next flight to Las Vegas?"

"What?" Nancy asked.

"Just please get here." Joe said. "I'm in jail. I don't want Frank here, Nan. I just want to talk to you right now."

"What?" Nancy asked again.

"I have to go." Joe said. "They're telling me my time's up."

"But, Joe–" Nancy said.

"Just get here, please. And you might want to call your dad" Joe said and hung up before she could say anything else.

Nancy hung up the phone and turned to Frank.

"What did he want?" Frank asked, with his eyes still closed.

"Your brother's in Las Vegas." Nancy said.

"What's he doing there?" Frank asked.

"Apparently getting himself thrown in jail." Nancy said.

Frank's eyes popped open and he looked at Nancy.

"He wants us on the next flight to Vegas." Nancy said. "But he said that he'll only talk to me, Frank."

"That's crazy!" Frank said, throwing the covers off of himself.

"Frank, we need to do it his way. It has to be pretty bad if he's not willing to talk to you about it first. Maybe he thinks that you'll judge him." Nancy said.

"I wouldn't judge him, Nan." Frank said. "He may not think things through clearly before he actually does them, but I will always be there for him."

"I know you will, Frank. But let's do this his way." Nancy said. "Now, see if you can book us a flight for as soon as possible and I'll see if I can get a hold of my dad."

Frank looked as if he wanted to say something more, but instead he just reached for the phone and put in a call to the airlines. Nancy went into the next room and called her father, Carson Drew, a prominent criminal attorney, from her cell phone. She quickly told him everything that Joe had told her and when she finished, Carson let out a long sigh.

"He's not really giving you much information." Carson said to his daughter.

"I know, Dad. But he really didn't have time to tell me everything over the phone." Nancy said. "He's going to tell me everything once we get to the station. Just tell me that you can be there."

"Of course I will, honey." He said.

Nancy let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, Dad."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Carson said and hung up.

She put down her phone and pushed her hair out of her face. _Joe had better have a very good reason for having Frank and I put our vacation plans on hold._

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The eight-by-ten cell in which Joe Hardy was being held, was confining to him. Sure, he had been held in small spaces before, but he always managed to get out of them before they drove him crazy. Now he wasn't so sure that he would get out of this one. The police said they a substantial amount of evidence against him and it didn't look good for him. He just wished that he could remember what exactly happened last night.

He had read in books where sometimes people who committed murders had blackout periods–a period of time that was blocked from memory, usually around the time the murder was committed. He wondered if this is what was happening to him. But he shook his head. He just couldn't believe that he was capable of doing something like this.

At least, this is what he kept telling himself.

Joe just wished now that he never would have left the comforts of Bayport, New York. He had a wonderful life up there, and it was now being held in this cell for murder, that he realized this. He should have just stay there and just faced his problems head-on. Instead, he just took the chicken way out and ran, thinking that it would somehow make things better. He closed his eyes, remembering had led to him running away. _It was Vanessa, _he thought sadly.

Ever since Frank and Nancy had gotten married, Vanessa had been acting differently. She would just look at him with a starry gaze in her eyes. He even caught her a few times looking through bridal magazines. When he would catch her, she would just look at him embarrassed saying Nancy must have left it. But he finally figured out why. Actually, he didn't figure it out for himself; Vanessa had asked point-blank when they were going to get married.

And for the first time in his life, Joe Hardy was scared–make that terrified. He had been up against some pretty ruthless criminals and he realized that he had never been scared of them the way he had when Vanessa mentioned the word "marriage". And that really surprised him because he wasn't afraid of commitment; he had been with Vanessa for a while now. It was just the idea of marriage that scared him.

So, Joe did the only thing–unreasonable thing–he could think of, and ran away from it all. He knew that it was wrong, even more so because he hadn't called Vanessa to let her know where he was. And what was really bad was that he couldn't even talk to his brother. Well, he could have, but Frank had a life with Nancy now and he didn't want to be a burden to them.

_You mean like you are now, _Joe thought bitterly.

He knew they had been waiting a long time for a vacation. In fact, it was supposed to be their honeymoon they hadn't taken yet. And here he was sitting in a jail cell, making them prolong their plans, yet again, just to get him out of the mess he had somehow gotten himself into.

Joe sat up on the cot and swung his legs over the side. He put his face in his hands and let out a long sigh. He just wished that this could be a nightmare that he could wake up from.

"Hey, Hardy!" an officer said, coming up to his door. He pulled a ring of keys from his belt and unlocked the door to Joe's cell. "You have a visitor."

He opened the door and escorted Joe to the visitor's room. There, he saw Nancy at the small table in the middle of the room, her hands resting on the table in front of her.

The officer closed the door to the room and locked it. Joe walked up to Nancy and enveloped her in a big hug. "Thank you so much, Nan." he said.

"You know that I would do anything for you, Joe." Nancy said. "But I should start off by saying that you hurt Frank."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked as he sat down across the table from Nancy.

"He's hurt by the fact that you didn't want to talk to him first." Nancy said.

"I wasn't trying to hurt him, Nan. I just can't handle the disappointment that I'll see in his eyes. It would kill me." Joe said.

"I understand." Nancy said. "So, how about you tell me why you're here? I know it's not for the food."

Joe gave her a small smile. "They think I murdered a woman last night."

Nancy stared at him with her mouth agape. "Please tell me that this is a joke."

"I wish to God that it was." Joe said.

"What happened?" Nancy asked.

"Well, that's the problem. I don't remember anything from last night." Joe said.

"Then I'm confused." Nancy said.

"When I woke up this morning, there was a dead woman in my bed. She was covered in blood and there was blood all over my hands. There was also a knife with my fingerprints all over it beside my bed." Joe explained.

Nancy's brows burrowed in thought. "And you have no recollection of this at all?"

"None whatsoever." Joe said.

"What is the last thing that you remember?" Nancy asked.

"I was at the Saraphina Casino, playing the slots." Joe said.

"You were gambling?" Nancy asked in disbelief.

"I'm in Vegas, Nancy. What else am I going to do?" Joe asked.

"I'm sorry. That was a stupid thing for me to say." Nancy said

"It's okay." Joe said, softly.

"Look, I better go talk to Frank. I called my dad and he's on his way here. We'll get you out of this mess, Joe." Nancy said.

"Thanks, Nancy." Joe said. He looked as if we wanted to say something else.

"What is it, Joe?" Nancy asked.

"I can't help but wonder, what if I am guilty?" Joe asked.

"That's crazy, Joe. You're not capable of something like this." Nancy said.

"Is it crazy?" Joe asked. "I know it doesn't look good for me, Nancy."

Nancy just looked at him, not knowing how to answer that.

"What if I'm a murderer, Nancy?" Joe asked.

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**Author's Note: Well, I am so glad that you enjoyed the first chapter. It's nice to know that so many enjoy my writing. It really helps me to keep going. I hope that you like this one as well. As always, please review! I will try to update again soon.**


	3. Flirting With Information

Nancy felt this awful pain in her heart as she watched Joe. It upset her that he was willing to give up so easily. She just wished that she could grab him by the hand and run out of the station with him. But the logical part of her told her that it would only make things worse for him.

"You can't talk like this, Joe." Nancy said. She grabbed his hands in hers and gave them a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "We're going to get you out of this mess."

"What if you can't?" Joe asked. "What if I actually killed that woman?"

"Stop it, Joe." Nancy said, sternly. "If you continue to talk like this, Frank and I can easily get on a plane and get on with our vacation. You have never been this down on yourself and you're not about to start now."

Joe looked at her in surprise. "Wow."

Nancy cringed. "Sorry."

"Don't be." Joe said, an actual smile forming on his handsome face. "It's good to hear you talk like this."

Nancy smiled back at him as the officer came back into the room. "Time's up." he said.

Nancy and Joe stood up and gave each other a hug.

"My dad will be here soon." She said softly in his ear.

"Thanks again, Nancy." Joe said.

She nodded her head and watched as the officer escorted Joe back to his cell. She then made her way into the lobby to see Frank sitting on a bench and staring at the ceiling.

"Hey. Anything interesting up there?" Nancy asked.

"Hey." Frank said, paying attention to her. "How did it go?"

Nancy looked around the lobby to see it was crowded with people. "Let's go somewhere else and talk."

Frank nodded and they made their way out of the police station. They walked down the block and entered a small coffee shop, where they were greeted by the smell of fresh coffee. A waitress led them to a table and took their orders for two regular coffees. Nancy could see that Frank was getting impatient, but he at least waited long enough until she returned with their coffee.

"So, tell me." Frank said.

Nancy took a deep breath. "It's bad, Frank."

"How bad?" Frank asked.

"They arrested him for murder." Nancy said.

"What? Are you kidding?" he asked and little loud. Nancy looked to see a few of the patrons were watching them. Frank lowered his voice. "How can they say that?"

"Well, they kind of have to say that considering that Joe woke up next to the dead woman." Nancy said.

"How did she die?" Frank asked.

"She was stabbed to death." Nancy said. She looked at Frank as he lowered his head. "This is why he was afraid to speak to you, Frank. He didn't want to disappoint you."

Frank was silent for a moment. "I'm not disappointed in him, Nancy. He has to know that."

"I think he does." Nancy said. "He just couldn't deal with him letting you down."

"Why was in even in Vegas in the first place?" Frank asked.

Nancy shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't get around to ask him that. He looked as if something else was bothering him, but I don't know what it was."

"We need to find out." Frank said.

"You're right. Let's go back to the hotel and wait for my dad. We can't be there while he's talking to Joe." Nancy said.

Frank drained the last of his coffee and threw a couple of bills onto the table. He held the door open for Nancy and they hailed a taxi to take them back to the Exodus Hotel, which was across from the Saraphina. They had decided to stay there, thinking it would be easier to investigate Joe's case. When they got back, Nancy had a message at the desk telling her that her father had arrived and had gone to speak with Joe.

"So, what do you want to do while my dad's with Joe?" Nancy asked.

He smiled at her with a determined look in his eyes. "I want to take a look at Joe's room."

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"You're just a popular guy today, aren't you, Mr. Hardy?" The officer who had brought him earlier to Nancy said as he unlocked the door to Joe's cell.

"What can I say?" Joe asked.

The officer didn't say anything but escorted him to same room he was in earlier. Carson Drew was standing by the window, looking outside.

"Mr. Drew, thank you so much for coming so far to help me." Joe said.

"Nancy said you were in trouble." Carson said. "What else could I do?"

Joe shook Carson's hand and they sat down at the table. Carson opened his briefcase and pulled out a folder along with a legal pad.

"I spoke to the officer who arrested you and he told me as much as he could." Carson said. "But I need you to fill in some of the blanks for me."

"I'll try to as best as I can." Joe said. "Did the officer tell you that I couldn't remember anything from last night at the time of the murder?"

"He said something about that. But he was also really skeptical." Carson said.

"Believe me, I'm still not sure if _I _believe it." Joe said.

"Well, I also talked to the judge who will be presiding over the bail hearing and he set it up for two o'clock, which will be in another hour and a half." Carson said, looking at his watch. "I'm pretty sure that I can get you off because of your reputation as a detective, but I'm not a hundred percent about that. All we can do is hope for the best."

"I know how slim my chances are. I'll just have to hope that the judge is in a really good mood today." Joe joked weakly.

"This isn't a joking matter, Joe." Carson warned him.

"I know." Joe said. "I guess I'm trying to keep myself optimistic."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Carson said. "Even if I can't get you out, you know that Frank and Nancy will stop at nothing to prove your innocence. You just have to believe in that. You will always have people out there that care about you and love you."

"I know." Joe said. "And that means more to me right now than anything else in the world."

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"Frank, are you sure about this?" Nancy asked, as they made their way to the concierge desk at the Saraphina Hotel.

"Nancy, we have to get that room number. I just need you to put on the charm." Frank said.

Nancy looked at him doubtfully.

"Come on, Nan. You're a natural at this. You've done this many times before." Frank said.

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Whoever said that flattery gets you everywhere, is stupid."

"Just think–you're doing this for Joe." Frank said.

"Yeah, yeah." Nancy said. "So, what do you propose that I do? I mean, I don't want to come on too strong. I am married."

"I don't care what you have to do." Frank said. "I know it's all an act."

Nancy raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really?" she said.

She walked towards the desk before he could say anything else. She grabbed a piece of gum out of her purse and popped it into her mouth. She then walked towards the desk and flashed the concierge a dazzling smile. The concierge smiled back at her.

"Can...Can I help you?" he stammered.

Nancy blew a bubble with her gum. "Yeah, my mom and I were thinking about staying here." She said in a bubbly voice.

"Well, we would like that very much." He said.

"Well, there's just one problem," Nancy looked at his name tag. "Randy. See, I heard this really bad rumor that there was a murder here last night."

"And where did you hear that, Ms...?" Randy asked.

"Adams. Molly Adams." Nancy said. "It's been all around. I've heard it everywhere."

"I'm not really supposed to comment on it, Ms. Adams." Randy said.

"Oh, well, I won't run around telling it myself. I would like to stay as far from it as I can." Nancy said. "And please, call me Molly."

Randy smiled at her. "Molly. I hate to say it, but unfortunately, that rumor is true."

"Oh, my goodness!" Nancy exclaimed. She popped her gum again. "What happened?"

"Some guy woke up beside a dead woman in his bed this morning. They say she was stabbed to death, but the guy claims he doesn't remember anything." Randy explained.

"Really?" Nancy said a little loudly. "Oh, sorry. So what room was it in?"

"Oh..." Randy hesitated.

"I promise I won't tell anyone that you told me." Nancy said, rubbing his hand with her finger.

Randy blushed and looked around to make sure that no one was listening. "It was in Room 817."

"Wow," Nancy said, intrigued.

"I hope this doesn't dissuade you from staying with us." Randy said.

Nancy let out a little giggle. "You are such the flirt, Randy! But it really is up to my mom. But I will tell her that I really want to stay here. And who knows, Randy, we may see each other again."

"I would like that very much, Molly." Randy said.

Nancy flashed him another dazzling smile and grabbed a brochure off the table. She then spotted Frank and sent him a look that told him not to follow yet. She went out of the hotel and stepped around to the side of it to wait for Frank. He emerged from the hotel a couple of minutes later.

"Laying it on a little thick in there, don't you think?" Frank teased.

"You told me to go for it, so I did." Nancy said.

"So, did you find out the room number?" Frank asked.

"Of course I did." Nancy said, smiling proudly.

Frank bent down to give her a kiss. "You're the best, Nancy."

"And don't you ever forget it." Nancy said as her cell phone started to ring.

"You won't ever let me." Frank said as she dug it out of her purse.

"Hello?" Nancy said, smiling at Frank.

"Hey, honey." Carson said.

"Dad, hi!" Nancy said. "How did everything go?"

Nancy listened intently as Carson explained everything to her. Frank was watching her for any emotions, but she showed none. He practically jumped on top of her when she hung up the phone a couple of minutes later.

"So..." Frank said, impatiently.

"He did it." Nancy said. "Joe just got released on $50,000 bail."

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**Author's Note: Well, there we go. I hope that you enjoyed it. In answer to a question left in one of the reviews, yes, this does take place after Cupid's Revenge. If you have any other questions. Let me know, and if I am able to answer them, I will. **

**And now, a little begging on my part...will some of you pretty-please-with-whatever-you-like-on-top-please, PLEASE update some of your stories. I am going crazy about what will happen next on them! (I could be a meanie and not update my story until I see some stories updated, but I'll be nice...Maybe) LOL!**


	4. Snooping Around

Frank swept Nancy off her feet in a big hug. "I can't believe this!" He said. "This is great news!"

Nancy smiled at him as he set her back down on the ground. "Not so fast, Frank." Nancy cautioned. "This doesn't mean he's off the hook."

"I know." Frank said. "But this is good. If they let him out on bail, then they can't possible believe he really had anything to do this."

"It was just because of his reputation." Nancy said.

"So, when will be get out?" Frank asked.

"Dad said that he'll drop him off at our hotel in about a half hour." Nancy said.

"So, we don't have time to search his room." Frank said, disappointed.

"Nope." Nancy said. "But hey, it's always there later. And I will help out with any crazy plan that you can possibly think of."

"I'll keep you on that one." Frank said.

Nancy put her arm through his. "Come on. Let's pick up something to eat. I bet he's hungry."

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Joe was so happy to be out of jail, even if it was for a short time. He knew that he needed to work fast if he planned to clear his name. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was somehow just an innocent bystander in this whole mess. While he knew he couldn't do much to help himself, he was glad that he had Nancy and Frank here.

_Frank, _he cringed inwardly. Joe was now going to have to face his brother and he wasn't sure how Frank would really react to him not wanting to talk to him first. But Frank was one to usually forgive things like that and he hoped it would prove true this time.

Carson pulled into the parking garage to avoid any confrontation by stray reporters who had been stationed at Joe's hotel. They quickly made their way to the 15th floor and knocked on the door of Frank and Nancy's room, 1515.

Joe heard commotion on the other side of the door and eventually the slide of the chain to the door. Nancy beamed at him when she opened up the door.

"So, how does it feel to be free?" she asked, giving him a hug.

"I am loving every second of it. Just a word of advice: don't ever commit a crime. Jail is not a very fun place to be." Joe said.

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I think about holding up a store." Nancy said.

"Do that." Joe said, smiling at her.

"Well, come in. There's no sense standing in the middle of an open doorway." Nancy said.

"Wow, you even sound like an old married woman now." Joe teased.

Nancy shot him a look and closed the door behind him and her father.

"What smells so good?" Joe asked.

"Frank and I picked up some Chinese a few minutes ago." Nancy explained.

"Where is Frank?" Joe asked, a little uneasily.

"Right here." Frank voice came from his and Nancy's bedroom. He walked out to stand in front of Joe. Joe waited anxiously, wondering what Frank would do or say. After a minute Frank grabbed him in a brotherly hug.

"I should kick your ass for thinking I wouldn't be behind you all the way." Frank said, as a way of greeting.

"I know. I was stupid for even thinking it." Joe said.

"Well, as long as you admit it." Frank said. "Now, come on and eat something. I know you have to be starving."

"Famished, actually." Joe said.

They sat around the small coffee table that was in front of the large television in the living room and fixed themselves a plate of food.

"So, what do you think, Dad?" Nancy asked. "Does Joe have a chance?"

Carson sighed. "I personally think he does but that's only because I know him and I know there's no way that he murdered that girl. But the judge and the jury won't think so based on the evidence that's stacked against him right now. He has a big fight ahead of him."

"Frank and I have every intention on getting Joe out of this. We know something is going on here." Nancy said.

Frank nodded. "Nancy's right. It's just too odd that Joe doesn't remember any of that night. We're thinking that someone framed him."

"It's very possible." Carson said. "And I know there's no way to talk you out of whatever it is that you two are going to do, but I can say to be careful. If it has anything to do with that casino, then you'll be messing with some pretty nasty people. Everyone has connections out here and you probably won't have an ounce of help."

"We'll be careful, Dad. But we have to do something." Nancy said. "If it happens that Joe is being framed for this, we can't just sit and do nothing."

"I want to help out, too." Joe said, taking a bite of his steamed rice.

"You can't do that, Joe." Carson said. "Even though you're out of jail for the time being, the police will still be watching you. You can work the sidelines, but nothing that will put you in any position to make it harder for you to get off of this."

"I don't plan to sacrifice myself, Mr. Drew. I just have to help out in some way." Joe said.

"Nancy and I are about to head over to your hotel and see if we can find anything in your room. While we're there, you need to see if you can find out that woman's name and maybe get some background on her." Frank said.

"I guess I'm not in a position to argue right now." Joe said. "At least it's something."

Carson stood up and threw his plate away. "I'm going to my room. Someone needs to call Fenton and let him know what's going on, so it may as well be me." He turned to look at Nancy. "I mean it. You two be careful."

Nancy closed the door behind her father and leaned against it as a wave of dizziness overtook her.

"You okay?" Frank asked, concerned.

"Yeah." Nancy nodded. "I think I ate too fast."

"Are you going to be okay going over there?" he asked.

"Yes." Nancy said. "Let's go and see what we can find."

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Nancy looked down in disbelief at the maid's uniform that she was wearing. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Hey, you told me any crazy plan that I came up with, you would be behind me." Frank said. "Well, this is part of that crazy plan."

"And what am I supposed to do?" Nancy asked.

"It's just a cover while we check out the room." Frank said. "In case anyone decides to show up."

Nancy rolled her eyes and sighed. "Let's get this over with so I can get out of this outfit."

"There's the spirit that I know and love." Frank teased.

"How about I take this spirit and put it somewhere you won't like." Nancy grumbled.

Frank and Nancy quickly made their way to the eighth floor. They saw that the lock happened to be a key lock and very easy to pick open.

"I guess they don't believe in upgrades." Frank whispered. He got his lock picking kit out of his back pocket and two minutes later they were inside the room.

"So, what are we looking for?" Nancy asked.

"I don't know." Frank said. "Anything."

Nancy looked around the room to see black fingerprint dust all over the place, along with a chalk outline on the bed. Blood was everywhere in the room and Nancy had to cover her mouth to keep from heaving.

"Can we please get out of here as soon as possible?" Nancy asked.

"You don't have to stay in here, Nan. I'll understand." Frank said.

"No. I need to help Joe." Nancy said. "I'll be fine. It was just the blood."

"We'll try to make it as quick as possible." Frank assured her.

They started to move around the room quickly, searching for anything that may stand out to them. Nancy got on her knees and looked under the bed. She thought she saw a flash of gold and reached out to pick it up. It was a cufflink shaped as an eagle.

"Frank, I found something over here." Nancy said.

Frank walked over the stand behind her. "What is it?"

"It's a cufflink. And I know for sure that it isn't Joe's." Nancy said.

"You're right. It would take a lot to get Joe in a suit, especially with cufflinks." Frank said.

Just then they heard a sound on the other side of the door. It was as if someone was unlocking the door.

"Did you hear that?" Nancy whispered.

Frank nodded.

"Hide!" Nancy whispered fiercely.

Frank darted into the bathroom and quickly closed the door as the door to the room opened. He cringed when he heard a gruff voice.

"Hey! What are _you_ doing in here?"

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**Author's Note: Well, there you go. I bet you thought I wouldn't update, huh? Believe me, I was starting to get nervous myself! In answer to a question from one of the reviews, I'm not sure how I'll refer to Nancy now that she's married; I didn't really give it much thought. What do you think?**


	5. Wrenched with Guilt

**Author's Note: First off let me start with the disclaimer since I forgot it in the first chapter–I own nothing, wish that I did. Okay, on with the real order of business. I thought about everyone's suggestions and I have decided that Nancy should go by Nancy Drew Hardy; that way she can keep her name but she is still a Hardy at the same time. And I also noticed that I have everyone speculating about pregnancy. All I can say is keep reading because it may happen, and it may not. I still haven't fully decided yet.**

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Nancy was totally caught off-guard by the man's gruff voice. He had a muscular frame, dark hair, and a scowl on his face. She quickly slipped the cufflink into her pocket.

"I asked what you were doing in here," the man said again.

"I was told to come and clean this room." Nancy said when she finally found her voice.

"Who told you that?" he asked.

"I-I'm not sure," Nancy said. "I just started here a couple of days ago."

"Where's your badge?" he asked.

"My badge?" Nancy asked.

"Yes. You're supposed to wear your badge at all times." The man said.

"Oh, I must have left it in my car." Nancy said. She put on a panicked face. "Please, you can't report me. I really need this job. If you tell my supervisor that I wasn't wearing it, she'll let me go for sure." Nancy let a couple of tears fall down her cheek.

"All right, miss. Just calm down." The man said, holding up his hands. He seemed to lose some of his composure once he saw the tears. "How about if you go get your badge out of your car and we'll forget any of this happened."

"Thank you so much." Nancy said, wiping the tears away. "You don't know what this means to me."

"And stay out of this room. It's off limits." The man gave her one last look and left the room.

Nancy practically fell against the wall when he left. She thought for sure that she was going to be in trouble. It was amazing to her the power of a woman and tears.

"Frank!" she whispered loudly.

Frank opened the door of the bathroom slowly. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Nancy nodded. "Yeah. I thought we were caught for sure, though."

"You handled it well." Frank said admiringly.

"Believe me, I was making it up as I went along." Nancy said. "But let's get out of here before he decides to come back."

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Joe watched, frustrated, as Frank and Nancy left to take a look at his old hotel room. He wanted to be there to help them, but he knew that wasn't possible. He hated feeling this helpless and he hated to do research. He was a hands-on kind of guy; always has been.

He wasn't quite ready to get in research mode, so he walked over to the sofa in the room and sprawled out on it. He still had a lot of thinking to do and he needed to do it soon. He was hurting too many people and it wasn't getting any better. Especially now that Mr. Drew was talking to his father.

Fenton Hardy was always one to give his sons the benefit of the doubt. But Joe highly doubted that would happen this time. Sure his father would be there for him every step of the way, but he wouldn't blame him if he was a little leery. He had screwed up this time and he knew it–at least he was adult enough to admit that to himself.

Joe sat up on the sofa and flipped on the TV with the remote control. He flipped through the channels but didn't find anything that held his interest. He left the channel on the local news if only to put noise in the quiet hotel room. He watched the sports segment to see who was in the lead of the baseball playoffs. But then he heard something that he had been dreading.

_"The man who was arrested for the murder of a woman in his hotel room early this morning has been released on bail. Police say that twenty-one year old Joseph Hardy is the only suspect in the slaying of twenty-four year old Abby Collins. Ms Collins was found in Joseph Hardy's hotel room stabbed to death. Police say they are still investigating the homicide and hope to have more evidence against him soon. We will keep you updated on this story as it is made available to us._

_"In other news–" _

Joe shut the TV off in disgust. At least he knew the police wouldn't stop until he was put away. But now he knew the woman's name and that gave him a little burst of hope. He had somewhere to start. He got up to get Frank's laptop out of his case when he saw the phone on the table behind the sofa. He really needed to call Vanessa. She would freak if she heard what had happened on the news instead of from him.

He picked up the phone and punched in the number that he could dial in his sleep. It rang twice before it was picked up.

"Hello?" A soft voice said.

Joe froze. _God, that voice was so beautiful. I don't want to hurt her._

"Hello?" Vanessa asked again.

Joe tried to find his voice to tell her everything. But it was as though someone had ripped out his vocal cords. Her next words completely caught him off guard.

"Joe...is that you? Please, just talk to me."

Joe finally found the voice he was looking for, but it didn't say the words that he wanted. "I'm sorry, Van."

He heard her gasp as he hung up the phone.

_Why did I have to do that to her? Why am I always hurting her? Why can't I just be honest with her and stop being so scared?_

Joe angrily swatted at the vase of flowers that was sitting by the phone. He watched as the water trailed down the wall and looked at the trail of flowers that was a few feet in front of him. He then went over to Frank's bed and pulled out the laptop from it's travel case.

He would just stop thinking about it. He had things he needed to do. He needed to clear his name if he ever wanted to have a life with Vanessa. And when this was over, maybe he would seriously think about marrying Vanessa.

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When Frank and Nancy returned to their hotel room a little bit later, Joe was sleeping beside the open laptop.

"Well, from the looks of things, you would think he had a rougher night than we did." Frank said.

Nancy smiled. "Technically he has. It can't be too comfortable to sleep on a jail cot."

"Do you think he lucked out and found anything?" Frank asked.

"Let's not ask him tonight. He needs to sleep." Nancy said. Then she spotted the flowers on the floor. "Maybe he didn't find anything."

"Why do you say that?" Frank asked.

"Well, it was either that or the flowers made him really mad." Nancy said.

"I'm going to call down and get an extra blanket and pillows for him." Frank said. "We can ask him about everything and show him what we found tomorrow."

Nancy nodded. "I'm going to hit the shower."

"Are you still not feeling well?" Frank asked, worried.

"It's not as bad as it was earlier." Nancy assured him. She walked into her room and grabbed her pajamas out of her travel bag. She walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on as hot as she could stand it.

Nancy jumped in and quickly showered, enjoying the hot stream of water as it hit her body. She got off and was drying herself when her cell phone started to ring. She quickly slipped on the complimentary bath robe that was left for them and ran out to her phone. She was surprised by the voice on the other end.

"Hello?" Nancy said, breathlessly.

"Nancy, is that you?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah, it's me." Nancy said.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Vanessa asked.

"No, I just jumped out of the shower." Nancy answered.

"Where are you? I tried calling you at home and all I got was the answering machine." Vanessa said.

Nancy smiled at Vanessa's worried voice. They had become fast friends ever since Nancy and Frank had started dating. But it was kind of odd for Vanessa to be calling her at eleven o'clock at night.

"Hey, Van. Is everything okay?" Nancy asked, concerned.

"I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me." Vanessa said.

"What do you mean?" Nancy asked.

"Tell me what's going on with Joe." Vanessa said.

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**Author's Note: Yes, I know...another one. I had to put this one in to let you know that it is possible there will not be another update until I get back from Texas. Now, it may also be possible that I can update while I am there. It just depends on what kind of Internet company my sister goes through. But if I'm not able to, I just want you all to know that I am not abandoning this story. I will continue to work on it while I'm gone. (By the way, I'll be gone for seven weeks...yikes!) I will miss everyone and hope you have a safe and happy summer!**


	6. To Tell the Truth

Phil Minor kept a steady pace as he walked back to his office above the casino floor. As head of security of the Saraphina Hotel and Casino for the past four years, it was his job and responsibility to oversee everything and make sure that nothing went wrong. And before tonight, nothing had gone wrong.

The young titian-haired woman in room 817 really bothered him. He had always trusted his instincts–that's what had gotten him to the position that he was in right now. But right now, those instincts were screaming at him that something about that woman wasn't right. He just couldn't put a finger on it.

Phil didn't believe her story for one minute about being a new maid. They had given the staff strict instructions about leaving that room alone and they knew better than to disobey those instructions. So that's what was bothering him right now. It was no coincidence that she was in that room; he didn't believe in coincidence.

He picked up the phone and dialed the extension to the video surveillance room. "Manny, it's Phil. I need the tape for the eighth floor from an hour ago to right now. Thanks."

Phil disconnected the call and then dialed the private number to Stuart Grayson, CEO of the Saraphina Hotel.

"This better be good, Phil." Stuart Grayson said as way of greeting.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you, sir." Phil said. "But I think we may have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Stuart asked, suspiciously.

"I found a girl in that room we found the dead woman." Phil said.

"Did you ask what she was doing there?" Stuart asked.

"She said she was a new maid and she was told to clean that room." Phil explained.

"You don't believe her." Stuart stated.

"Not at all. She didn't have her badge on her. She claimed that she left it in her car." Phil said.

Stuart sighed. "Do you think she's connected with the young man in any way?"

"It's possible." Phil said.

"Do we know her name?" Stuart asked.

Phil hesitated. "I–I didn't ask for it."

"Why not, Phil?" Stuart asked softly.

"I didn't think of it." Phil said flatly. "But I have the security tape from the eight floor coming to me right now. I'll ask around and see if anyone knows her."

"That's a good idea, Phil." Stuart said. "And make sure you don't make another mistake like that. You know that I hate sloppy work. Call me as soon as you know anything."

There were very few times when Phil could remember he felt fear. But as Stuart hung the phone up on him, he felt a chill go through his body. He knew Stuart didn't like mistakes.

And he also knew that people who were under Stuart Grayson who made mistakes were usually never heard from again.

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Nancy couldn't think of anything to say to Vanessa. And it must have shown because Vanessa's voice spoke up again.

"Do you know what's going on with Joe, Nancy?" she asked again.

"I don't think I should be the one to tell you, Vanessa. Joe should talk to you himself." Nancy said.

"I think he tried to." Vanessa said softly.

"He did? When?" Nancy asked. She grabbed the towel from the bathroom and started to dry her hair as she sat down on her bed.

"Not too long ago." Vanessa said. "He didn't tell you?"

"No. Frank and I just got back in." Nancy explained. "What did he say?"

"That's just it. He didn't say anything for a while. When he finally did all he said was that he was sorry." Vanessa said.

Nancy grabbed the brush out of her travel bag and began to run it through her long hair. "Did he tell you what he was sorry about?"

"No. He just hung up the phone." She let out a long sigh. "That's why I called you, Nan. I need you to tell me what's going on."

"Vanessa, I–" Nancy began.

"_Please, _Nancy." Vanessa said.

Nancy couldn't help but feel sorry for Vanessa. If Joe wasn't going to tell her what was going on, then she needed to do it. And it was obvious in Vanessa's voice that she was worried to death about him.

"All right, Vanessa. But only because I feel like you have the right to know." Nancy said.

"Thank you, Nancy." Vanessa said, letting out a relieved breath. "First of all, where are you? I didn't recognize the number that he called me from."

"We're in Las Vegas." Nancy said.

"What?" Vanessa said, shocked.

"You didn't know he was coming here." Nancy said slowly.

"No! I just know a few days ago I tried to call him and there was no answer. And then I tried calling his cell phone, and all I kept getting was his voice mail. What is he doing in Vegas?" Vanessa asked.

"Maybe you can tell me." Nancy said. "Did you guys have a fight or something to make him bolt like this?"

"No, not that I–" Vanessa gasped.

"What is it, Vanessa?" Nancy asked.

"I was so stupid." Vanessa said, mostly to herself.

"Stupid?" Nancy asked. "Stupid about what?"

"I think I scared him away." Vanessa said with a heavy sigh.

"How? It had to be something pretty major. Joe's not one to scare easily." Nancy said.

"I think marriage would qualify as something major." Vanessa said.

"Oh." Nancy said, cringing.

"Yeah. I was talking to him about the idea of us getting married someday. I guess I was pushing him too hard." Vanessa said.

"Well, he was never one to do good under pressure. But I think that's something that you two need to discuss alone. There's nothing that Frank and I can do to help with that." Nancy said.

"If only he would call me and talk to me." Vanessa said.

"He's kind of in trouble right now, Van. So it may be a while before he's ready to talk you about that." Nancy said.

"What kind of trouble?" Vanessa asked, panicked.

Nancy decided to be up front with her. "He was arrested for murder early this morning."

"Oh, my God." Vanessa said.

"That's why Frank and I are here. We don't believe for one second that he did this and we are trying to clear him of it." Nancy assured her.

"What happened?" Vanessa asked, softly.

"I don't think you want to know, Vanessa." Nancy said.

"Please tell me, Nancy." Vanessa said.

Nancy took a deep breath. "When he woke up this morning, he was covered in blood. He looked over in his bed and there was a woman stabbed to death. The knife was right beside his bed and his fingerprints were all over it."

"That can't be." Vanessa said, shocked.

"We know that. That's what Frank and I are trying to prove. We think that he was framed. But it's a little hard because Joe doesn't remember anything." Nancy explained.

The bedroom door opened and Frank walked in. When he saw that Nancy was on the phone he sent her a questioning look.

Nancy covered the receiver with her hand. "It's Vanessa," she whispered.

Frank nodded and walked into the bathroom. Nancy heard the shower come on as she turned her attention back to Vanessa.

"Just promise me he's okay, Nancy." Vanessa said.

"I can't promise you that, Vanessa. It's really frustrating for him that he can't remember what happened and that he can't get out there and do something. But he's holding up fairly well." Nancy said.

"I know that you'll take care of him." Vanessa said. "Look, I should really get going. I really appreciate you talking to me, Nancy."

"It's no problem, Vanessa. Just take care of yourself and try not to worry so much. He'll be okay." Nancy said.

"That's easier said than done." Vanessa said with a sad chuckle.

"I really am sorry." Nancy said, quietly.

"It's not your fault. Just watch out for him." Vanessa said. She seemed to hesitate. "Will you tell him that I love him?"

"Of course." Nancy said. "But I think he should hear it from you, too."

"When he's ready to talk to me, I'll be here. I'm not going to push him away again." Vanessa said.

Nancy heard a click on the other end of the phone and then the dial tone. She hung up the phone, feeling sorry for Vanessa. She knew this couldn't be easy for her and that in some way, she was blaming herself for the mess that Joe was in.

She took off her robe and finally slipped into her pajamas. Just as she had the bed pulled back, Frank stepped out of the bathroom, a cloud of steam following him. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, and Nancy couldn't help but stare at him. He was a sexy man and she was glad that he was hers.

Frank caught Nancy staring at him and cleared his throat. "May I help you?"

"What?" Nancy asked, innocently. "Can't I stare at my husband if I want?"

"Sure," Frank said, grinning at her. "But it's going to cost you."

"Oh, really?" Nancy said, raising an eyebrow at him. "So, what's the going rate these days?"

Frank grabbed a pair of boxers from his duffle bag and slipped them on quickly. "Do you really want to know, Drew?"

"Bring it on, Hardy." Nancy said.

Frank smiled at her and Nancy giggled as they jumped into their bed.

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Phil was starting to get annoyed. He and the team that he had assembled had searched everywhere for any sign of the young woman that was in Room 817 and so far had come up with nothing. And to make things worse, Stuart Grayson was breathing down his neck, demanding results.

Well, he wasn't a miracle worker and he wasn't about to pretend to be in order to keep in Stuart's good graces. He had to realize how hard it was to find a person in Las Vegas, especially when you didn't have a name to go with a face.

Phil looked at his watch and saw that it was eight o'clock in the morning. He had been at work for almost twenty-four hours now and nearly half of that time was spent looking for the mystery woman. At least now it was shift change so maybe someone had seen her and could give him a name. If that didn't work out, maybe he could call one of his buddies in the FBI and send in the still shot he got of her.

He walked down to the main lobby and looked around trying to find Randy Griffith, the concierge that would be coming on now. Phil spotted him just as he walked into the lobby.

"Randy!" Phil called loudly.

A momentary look of panic flashed across Randy's face. "Phil–uh, Mr. Minor. What can I do for you?"

"It's okay, Randy. You're not in trouble." Phil said, holding out a hand.

"Oh." Randy said, relieved. "So, what can I do for you? You'll have to follow me as I clock in."

Phil followed Randy back to the employees' lounge and waited patiently as he clocked in and out his stuff away in his locker.

"I need to know if you've seen this woman." Phil said. He handed Randy the picture and a smile lit his face.

"Oh, sure!" Randy said, handing the picture back to Phil. "She was in here yesterday. She was thinking about staying here with us"

"When?" Phil asked.

"Oh, a little after two I would say. She's a beauty, I'll say that." Randy said, still smiling.

Phil felt a jolt of excitement go through his body. Finally, he was getting somewhere.

"Did she happen to tell you her name?" Phil asked.

"I'll never forget it." Randy said. "Her name was Molly Adams."

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**Author's Note: What can I say? I'm a sucker for sad reviews! Ya'll are really bummed that I'm gonna be gone for that long. This was the least that I could do for you. I know it doesn't make up for the time that I'll be gone, but I hope that it helps a little. Also, if the whole bedroom scene with Frank and Nancy offends anyone, I'm sorry. But they _are _married and that passion has to show through. Besides, they can't be an old fuddy-duddy couple!**

**As always review and let me know what you think. And I will miss you guys so much! (I do know that this will be my last update, at least this week. Like I said, if I can, I will try to update while I am gone.)**


	7. Where You Lead

**Author's Note: I'm back! Yay! (I'll wait until the applause dies down...Just kidding!) Well, here's a chapter as soon as I got back, as I promised. I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter and I'm sorry that you had to wait so long for a new one. But the important thing is that I had fun and I am now ready to go! (We really know that the important thing is that I have a new chapter up before I have a mob scene at my door!)**

**And while I have everyone's attention, we need your help! ("We" being TesubCalle, me and a few others.) We are trying to petition to change the category name to Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew or to give Nancy Drew a category of its own. We will take it any way that we can get it. If we have enough people email them, maybe we can have this name change. We each have our own reasons for wanting this, but my main things is that when Nancy Drew fans see a "Hardy Boys" category and no mention of Nancy Drew on the books main page, maybe it discourages them from seeing the work of authors that post there who do write Nancy Drew stories. If you are interested in helping, please email me. You can find my email address on my profile–just click on my screen name. The more people we have involved, the better!**

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Phil could feel the blood pumping through his veins as he walked back into his office. He finally had a name; now all he had to do was to find her. He walked into his office and closed the door. His phone on his desk started to ring as soon as he sat down.

"Minor," he answered.

"Do you have something for me?" Stuart asked.

Phil rolled his eyes in disgust–he was really getting tired of these phone calls. But he tried to hide that disgust as he spoke. "I found out the girl's name. She came in yesterday after lunch and was checking about vacancies."

"Do you believe her story?" Stuart asked.

"Not really. It seems to be too staged considering I found her in that room last night." Phil said.

"Find out everything you can about her. I want to know her better than she knows herself." Stuart said. He hung up the phone before Phil could answer him.

"I'll get right on that." Phil muttered as he hung up his own phone. He leaned back in his chair and sighed.

_Now it was time to find that proverbial needle in the haystack._

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Nancy woke up the next morning, smiling. Last night with Frank had been amazing. Sure, it kind of bothered her knowing that Joe was in the next room, but right now she didn't care. She was married to the man of her dreams and if she didn't take advantage of the few alone times they had together, what was she to do?

She turned around to see Frank, propped on one elbow, smiling down at her.

"Good morning," he said, his lips meeting hers softly.

"Good morning to you, too." Nancy said.

He let his thumb trace her cheekbone. "Last night was..."

"Wonderful." Nancy answered.

"I was going to say amazing, but wonderful will work, too." He teased.

Nancy laughed softly and kissed him again.

"Considering that I was preoccupied last night, I never did ask what Vanessa wanted." Frank said.

Nancy lay back on her pillow and sighed. "She was freaked out about Joe. She wanted to know what was going on with him."

"Did you tell her?" Frank asked.

"I did. I thought she had the right to know." Nancy said. "Someone needed to and it wasn't like Joe was about to tell her."

"You're right." Frank said, nodding. "She did need to know."

"She told me something interesting, too. Actually, a couple of interesting things." Nancy said.

"Like what?" Frank asked.

Nancy sat up in bed and turned to look at Frank. "She told me why she thought Joe may have come here."

"Really?" Frank asked, surprised.

Nancy nodded. "Yep. Apparently he freaked because she started to talk about marriage."

"I didn't even know they were considering it." Frank said. "Looks like she found the one thing in the world that can petrify Joe."

"She sounded really upset about it." Nancy said."She's really worried about him, Frank. And it didn't help matters any when he called her last night."

"He called her?" Frank asked.

"Yeah. She said for a while he wouldn't say anything but when he finally did speak all he said to her was that he was sorry." Nancy explained.

Frank remained silent, just looking up at the ceiling.

"I told her everything about, Joe." Nancy said.

"She needed to know." Frank said again. "She would have hated to hear about it on the news."

"Come on," Nancy said, patting him on the chest. "We need to get going. We have a lot to do today."

"Can't we just stay in bed?" Frank protested.

Nancy grinned at him. "Sure we could, but I really don't see how that will help Joe in any way."

Frank groaned and reluctantly got out of bed. He called down to room service and ordered breakfast for them and they quickly got dressed. When they emerged from their bedroom, Joe was answering the door. He took the cart from the waiter and tipped him a few dollars.

"About time you two came out of that bedroom," he said. "I would have checked on you, but I was afraid of what I might be barging into."

"And he's back to normal." Nancy said, rolling her eyes.

Joe smiled at her and uncovered the dishes on the cart. They each took a plate topped with pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast and sat down at the small table.

"So, did you two lovebirds find anything last night?" Joe asked, taking a bite of the eggs.

"Actually, we think we may have." Nancy said.

Joe looked at her, eyes wide. "Well, tell me. I mean, it is my life that is on the line and all."

Nancy dug into her jeans pocket and pulled out a small plastic Ziploc bag that held the eagle cufflink. She handed it to Joe and he put down his fork to study the cufflink.

"Where did you find this?" Joe asked. "How did you find this?"

"Uh, well..." Nancy began.

"We kind of got caught." Frank answered.

"What? How?" Joe asked, putting the little baggie down.

"Well, Frank hid in the bathroom and let me take the fall for it." Nancy said.

"I wasn't the one in the maid's uniform." Frank teased.

"Oh, believe me, it was certainly debatable." Nancy said.

"I highly doubt that I would have looked as good as you did in that skirt." Frank said.

Joe could only look at them and laugh.

Nancy shot both brothers a look and got them back on track. "Anyway, one of the security guards caught me in the room. I talked my way out of it but I think he suspects something. So we need to be careful and be on the lookout."

"So, where did you find this?" Joe asked, holding up the cufflink again.

"Beside the bed." Frank said. "And we can be absolutely sure that it isn't yours. And we are fairly certain it hasn't been there for a long time so that means that someone had to be in that room the night of the murder."

"Great," Joe said, a little frustrated. "Now all we have to do is look for someone who's missing a cufflink. Shouldn't be too hard to look for that in Las Vegas."

"Don't you get all fussy with us." Nancy warned. "We're out there trying to get you out of this mess. I'm sorry that there isn't a sign in that room that leads us directly to the killer. You're just going to have to take what you can get and learn to deal with it."

"I'm sorry." Joe said, sighing. "I didn't mean to sound like that. It's just frustrating that I can't be out there helping you. And if something did happen to you, I would totally blame myself because it would have been my fault."

"That's better." Nancy said. She took a sip of her orange juice.

"So, what about you, Bro?" Frank asked. "Did you find out anything while we were gone?"

Joe shot them a rueful grin. "I found out that the news reports are totally against me. They're just waiting for any drop of evidence against me to come in so they can have a big story."

"Don't let it get to you, Joe." Nancy cautioned. "This isn't the first time reporters have been against us."

"I'm not," Joe assured her. "But they did tell me the name of the woman that I supposedly murdered–Abby Collins."

"Did you find out anything about her?" Frank asked.

"Not yet. I planned on making some calls today to see what I could find out about her." Joe said.

"We need to know something soon." Frank said. "If she's connected with the Saraphina in any way, then that could point the finger their way and we'll find out why someone wanted her dead."

"It would help if I could remember anything from that night." Joe said.

"You're right, it would." Frank said. "But you can't force it or you'll just push it further away in your mind."

"What about you two?" Joe asked. "What are you going to do?"

"We're going to check out some jewelry stores. See if maybe we can find the owner of the cufflink." Nancy said.

"So, you're not going to give it to the police." Joe said.

"As far as I'm concerned, I am working with the police." Nancy said, shooting a glance at Frank. Then she turned to look back at Joe. "And besides, if the police are as gung ho as you say they are about pinning this murder on you, then they're the last people I want to deal with."

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"Why didn't you say anything about Vanessa?" Frank asked Nancy as they walked out of their hotel.

"Because I was hoping that maybe he would say something instead." Nancy said. She pulled her light jacket on and grabbed Frank's hand. He squeezed it lovingly as they started down the block.

"You know that he won't." Frank said, bringing her hand to his lips.

Nancy smiled as he kissed it. "Well, I guess I'm hoping that little brother of yours will mature a little bit as he ages."

"Good luck." Frank said, chuckling.

They had made out a list of local jewelry stores and were walking to the one that was closest to their hotel, Gibson's Jewelers. When Frank opened the door, a little bell jangled announcing their arrival. Almost instantly, a short middle-aged man with thinning silver hair was standing in front of them, smiling.

"Oh, a happy couple!" he exclaimed. "We have an excellent selection of engagement and wedding rings."

Nancy held up her hand. "It's a little too late for that."

The man smiled at them. "Well, we have an excellent selection of jewelry for that birthday or anniversary."

"Actually, we're not here to buy jewelry." Frank said.

The man's smile fell from his face. "Oh," he said, disappointed.

"My name is Frank Hardy, and this is my wife, Nancy." Frank said, holding out his hand. "And you are?"

"Alex Gibson," the man said. "If you're not here to purchase any jewelry, then what, may I ask, are you here for?"

"We were actually interested in knowing if you sell any cufflinks." Nancy said.

"Sure," Alex said, smiling again. "We have one of the best selections on the Strip."

"Have you sold any recently that look like this?" Nancy asked, holding the bag with the eagle cufflink.

Alex took it from her and studied it. "I really don't think we've ever had any like this. Do you mind if I take it out of the bag?"

"Sure, go ahead." Frank said. He and Nancy had discussed it earlier and determined that there was no way to get a print off of it.

Alex took it out of the bag and frowned as he looked it over. After a few moments, he put it back in the bag and handed it back to Nancy. "I know we've never sold any like that. All I can tell you is that whoever it belongs to, they have money. That's twenty-four karat gold that you have there."

"Really?" Frank asked, intrigued.

Alex nodded. "Mm-hmm. How did you two come across this?"

"Oh, well we–" Nancy began.

"It belonged to my grandfather." Frank said. "He was just wondering about an appraisal."

Alex studied them as if he didn't believe their story. Finally he just shrugged and sighed. "Well, I couldn't give you a definite quote, but I will say that you definitely have a treasure there, especially if you have another one to go with it."

"Thank you so much," Nancy said. "You've been really helpful."

"No problem," Alex said. "And if you ever think of selling it, I really hope you consider bringing them back to us."

Nancy and Frank smiled their thanks. The bright sun greeted them as they walked out of the shop.

"So, where did we get after that?" Frank asked.

"We learned that it belongs to someone with money." Nancy said, trying to be optimistic.

"That could very well be anyone who just hit the jackpot in one of the many casinos here." Frank grumbled.

"Optimism, Frank." Nancy said. "Besides, I think it's a pretty good starting place."

"All right," Frank said. "Let's go see if Joe has found out anything."

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Phil Minor put down his binoculars and smiled to himself. He and his team had been searching the casinos all day long for a Molly Adams, and so far the search had turned up nothing. But as luck would have it, he just spotted her walking out of Gibson's Jewelers with a man. But come to think of it now, the man reminded him of someone, but he couldn't place it right then.

_Oh, well, _he thought. It would come to him sooner or later and he didn't have time to figure it out now. He watched as they walked into the Exodus Hotel and nearly choked. _She was staying at the hotel across the street from the Saraphina! _

He was frustrated with himself, but at the same time, happy. She had just made his search a whole loteasier. Now all he had to do was call the Exodus and find out her room number.

_That should make Stuart happy, _he thought to himself.

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**Post Author's Note: I will try to have another update in a couple of days, but I live on the Mississippi Coast and Hurricane Dennis is headed this way. Just pray that it misses us and wish us luck! **


	8. Under the Weather

**A Message from me: I SURVIVED HURRICANE DENNIS! YAY! Now on with the story...**

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Joe looked up from Frank's laptop when Nancy and Frank came into the hotel room.

"That's didn't take too long." Joe said.

"Well, our search may have been narrowed down," Frank explained.

"How?" Joe asked.

"Well, the cufflink apparently belongs to someone with money and power." Nancy said, sitting down on the sofa.

"Then it shouldn't be that hard to find someone like that in Las Vegas." Joe said, sarcastically.

Frank shook his head at Joe. "Don't talk to her like that. She won't listen to you."

"Actually, we start in the most obvious place," Nancy said. "The Saraphina Hotel."

"And allow me to make it a little more obvious," Joe said. "Abby Collins was the star in their main stage show."

"That certainly does connect things," Frank said.

"Now all we have to do is figure out another way over there," Nancy said. "They'll be on the lookout for me after last night's fiasco."

"What about me?" Frank asked. "They haven't seen me."

"It's worth a shot." Joe said.

Nancy nodded. "Sounds good. While you two figure it out, I'm going to lay down and take a nap."

"Are you okay?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, I'm just wiped out all of a sudden." Nancy said.

"You really should think about seeing a doctor," Frank said. "You've been like this for a couple of days now."

"It's okay," Nancy said. "It's probably just exhaustion."

Nancy stood up and walked to her bedroom. She really hoped that it was exhaustion. But she was starting to get a little worried herself. She promised herself that if she didn't feel any better by tomorrow, she would go to a doctor and see what was going on.

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Phil slammed his phone down in anger. He had just called the Exodus Hotel and after he had gone through all of the formalities of explaining who he was, he was told that there wasn't a Molly Adams registered at the hotel. But that was absurd because he had just seen he enter that hotel not thirty minutes ago.

He looked up as a knock sounded on his door.

"Come in," Phil said, gruffly.

"Is that any way to speak to someone at your door?" Stuart Grayson's silky voice said.

"Sorry, sir." Phil said. "It's just been a rough couple of days."

"You're right. It has been a rough couple of days." Stuart said, sitting in the chair across from Phil. He was holding a thick folder in his hands. "But I'm sure that you're on top of things."

"I've had a few leads on the woman. I even spotted her today going into the Exodus with a man. But when I called with her name, they told me she wasn't registered there." Phil said.

"Go there and show them the picture that you got of her. Like you said, she has a memorable face. Someone will recognize her." Stuart said. He threw the folder across the desk and it slid to a stop right in front of Phil.

"What is this?" Phil asked, picking the folder up.

"I thought I would check up on the guy we have going down for this. It's a pretty interesting read, if I do say so myself." Stuart said.

Phil opened the folder and his eyes widened as he read over it.

Stuart leaned back in his seat and watched Phil's expression. "Joseph Hardy, twenty-one years old, hails from Bayport, New York. He has a brother, Frank, who is twenty-three. They're the sons of Fenton Hardy, a retired detective from the NYPD. They have a solid reputation for solving cases all over the world and have done work for a secret government organization called The Network.

"Joe is currently enrolled in college where he is earning a degree in criminal psychology. Frank is now the lead detective for the Chicago PD. Almost a year ago, he married Nancy Drew who pulls double duty as a detective and the top investigative reporter for the _Chicago Tribune._" Stuart recited as if he remembered every detail perfectly.

"So, what does this mean to us?" Phil asked.

"It means that we have trouble." Stuart said. "I think something needs to be done before they're able to pin this murder on us."

"Us?" Phil asked.

"Yes, _us_," Stuart said. "You're in this as much as I am."

"I told you that you didn't have to kill Abby. She could have been bought off." Phil said, angrily.

"No one can be bought off. As soon as the money was gone, she would have bled me dry until I had nothing left. And besides, who's to say she wouldn't have ratted me out just to spite me?" Stuart said.

Phil looked as if he was going to say something else, but decided against it. Stuart was right, after all. If Stuart went down, he sure as hell would bring him down with him. Stuart had made sure of that fact. He flipped through the thick folder until he came to a photograph. He let out a chuckle, causing Stuart to look up at him.

"You mind telling me what you find humorous in this situation?" Stuart asked.

"I think our problem may have gotten a little easier." Phil said.

"How's that?" Stuart asked.

"You want the woman that we've been looking for?" Phil didn't wait for an answer. He slid the picture across the desk to Stuart. "That's her, except her name isn't Molly Adams. It's Nancy Drew."

A slow smile formed across Stuart's face. "Well, I think it's about time we have a talk with Mrs. Drew."

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Frank watched the bedroom door close behind Nancy with a worried expression. It was bothering him that she wasn't feeling well and that she didn't know why she was felling that way.

"It's probably nothing, Frank." Joe said, causing Frank to tear his gaze away from the door.

"What are you talking about?" Frank asked.

"You're worried that something's really wrong with her–don't be. It's probably just exhaustion, like she said. You know that she works herself ragged." Joe said.

Frank ran a hand through his dark hair. "I know." He looked Joe directly in the eye. " It's just...when you get married, you tend to worry more about that person."

Joe didn't say anything but Frank saw him cringe when he said the word "marriage".

"Why didn't you tell me about you and Vanessa?" Frank asked.

Joe sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Who told you?"

"Vanessa called Nancy, crying, last night. Why didn't you tell me?" Frank asked.

Joe shook his head. "I don't know–that is an honest answer. I didn't even think about anything but getting as far away from Bayport as fast as I could."

"And look where you are now." Frank commented.

"I know." Joe said. "It was a really stupid move on my part. Sure, I'm up on a murder charge right now, but the thing that really bothers me right now is how much I hurt Vanessa."

"I'm not going to lie to you, Joe." Frank said. "She's really hurting right now. And she really put Nancy on the spot last night. Nancy had to tell her what was going on here. And not to add any more guilt on you, she partially blames herself for all of this."

"Oh, man," Joe said, rubbing his hands over his face. "I really messed up."

"Not to sound like a broken record, but you did." Frank said.

"I guess I should call her." Joe said.

"It would be the smart thing to do," Frank said.

Joe reached for the phone, not sure what he was going to say to Vanessa.

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When Nancy woke up the next morning, she still wasn't feeling any better. Looking next to her, she saw that Frank was still sound asleep. Not wanting to wake him, she quietly slipped out of bed and stepped into the shower, thinking that would make her feel better. It was really bothering her that she didn't know what was going on with her body. She hadn't been sick in a long time and when she did get sick, it had a tendency to really knock her down.

She got out of the shower and quickly dressed. She opened the bathroom door quietly and saw that Frank was still sleeping. She quickly grabbed her purse and walked out of their bedroom, making sure to close the door. She didn't know why, but she didn't want Frank to go to the doctor with her. Maybe it was because she knew seeing him worry would stress her out even more.

Nancy saw that Joe was still sleeping on the couch. She grabbed the pad of paper and the pen by the phone and scribbled a note to let them know what she was doing. She also told them to call her on her cell phone if they needed her. She made sure that she had her key and she left their room. Just as she was about to get on the elevator, she changed her mind and walked to her dad's room, which was a few doors down.

"Who is it?" he asked through the door.

"It's me, Dad." Nancy said.

She heard Carson fumble with the locks and a moment later the door opened. "Nancy, what are you doing up this early?"

"Can I come in?" Nancy asked.

"Yes–I'm sorry–yes, come in!" Carson stepped back from the door and let his daughter in.

"What's going on, honey?" Carson asked, leading her to his small sofa in the sitting room.

Nancy put her purse down and then sat down on the sofa. "Nothing," she said, forcing a smile. "I was just checking up on you. Have you heard anything new?"

"I'm trying to talk to the police and the judge to drop the charges against Joe, but I'm afraid it's not going too well." Carson said, sighing. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Water will be fine," Nancy said.

Carson went to the bathroom to get Nancy a glass of water and then brought it to her. She took a sip of it as he sat next to her. "Something's bothering you. Tell me what it is."

Nancy let out a sigh and put the glass of water on the small coffee table in front of the sofa. "It's nothing, really. I just haven't been feeling well in the last couple of days. Frank's freaked out about it and he wants me to go to the doctor. It's actually where I'm headed this early in the morning."

"Are you worried?" Carson asked.

Nancy shook her head. "Not really. I told him it was probably exhaustion."

"That's very possible with the way that you work yourself." Carson said. "But why isn't Frank with you right now?"

"I didn't want him to come." Nancy said. "He'd just freak out more and it would just drive me crazy. I love him, Dad, but he can get on my nerves sometimes."

"Welcome to married life, honey." Carson said, chuckling.

Nancy gave him a small chuckle. "Just if Frank comes looking for me, tell him I'll be back later. And not to worry."

"I'll do what I can." Carson said. "But you let me know something as soon as you know."

"I will," Nancy said. She stood up, grabbed her purse and gave her father a hug.

Carson followed her to the door. "Like you said, sweetheart–it's probably nothing."

"I know." Nancy said, opening the door. "Thanks, Dad."

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Nancy decided she would be best off if she went to a walk-in clinic since her regular doctor was all the way in Chicago. She pulled up to On-Call Medical Clinic and parked her car in the first available slot. She got out, making sure to lock the doors and pulled open the door to the clinic just as a mother with her small child was coming out. She went up the desk, where she was greeted by a small, kind woman with a warm smile.

"Hello, dear." She said. "Can I help you?"

Nancy smiled at her. "Yes–I just haven't felt good in the last few days and I was just wanting to see a doctor and see if they could tell me what was wrong with me."

"Well, of course!" The woman said. "Let me just give you these forms to fill out real quick–just insurance and general information. Just bring them back to me when you are finished and if you have any questions at all, you can just ask me. My name is Ms. Andrews."

"Thank you," Nancy said, taking the clipboard from her. She found a seat in the corner and quickly filled out all of her information and handed it back to Ms. Andrews.

"Just have a seat and someone will see you shortly," Ms. Andrews said.

Nancy smiled her thanks and sat down in the seat she had occupied before. She sat there for at least forty-five minutes, watching as people walked in and out of the clinic, before a nurse called her name. Shr grabbed her purse and then followed the nurse to the first unoccupied examination room. The nurse took Nancy's stats and then asked her to sit on the examination table.

"So, what seems to be bothering you, Mrs. Hardy?" the nurse asked, sitting on a rolling stool.

"Um," Nancy said, thinking. "It's a few things, actually. Exhaustion, dizziness, loss of appetite, nausea."

The nurse wrote down everything Nancy said on her chart. She then looked at Nancy and smiled. "All right. The doctor will be in to see you shortly."

"Thank you," Nancy said as the nurse shut the door.

Not having anything else to do but wait, she pulled out her cell phone and saw that she had two missed calls. She had turned her phone on silent when she came into the clinic so she wouldn't disturb anyone else. She looked at her call log to see they were both from Frank. She was about to call him back when the door opened, causing her to jump.

"I'm so sorry to startle you," the doctor said. She was a small petite woman who appeared to be in her thirties, with short, red hair. "I'm Dr. Patty Chase."

"No, it's okay," Nancy said, smiling. "I should have been paying attention instead of worrying with this phone."

"I understand completely." Dr. Chase said, smiling at her. "I am firmly attached to mine as well."

Nancy smiled warmly at the doctor.

"Well, Mrs. Drew Hardy–" Dr. Chase began.

"Please, call me Nancy." Nancy said.

"Okay, Nancy...I see that you have several things bothering you today." Dr. Chase said.

"That's me. I can't ever just have one thing wrong with me," Nancy joked.

"Well, that's quite all right." Dr. Chase said, smiling at her. She looked down at Nancy's chart. "Your blood pressure seems to be a little high, but it could be attributed to all of these other things that are bothering you."

"What do you think it is?" Nancy asked, a little worried.

"Well, I have a pretty good idea, but I need to ask you a few questions first." Dr. Chase said.

"Okay," Nancy said, nodding.

"First of all, are you late?" Dr. Chase asked.

"Late? What do you mean?" Nancy asked.

"I mean, have you missed your period?" Dr. Chase said.

Nancy was caught off-guard. "I–Well, now that I think about it, I may be a few days late, but that usually happens with me. It never happens the same time each month."

Dr. Chase made a note in Nancy's chart. "When's the last time that you had intercourse?"

"Excuse me?" Nancy asked, shocked.

"When was the last time that you had sex?" Dr. Chase asked again.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Chase, but I really don't like this questioning. Will you please tell me what's going on here?" Nancy said.

"I'm sorry, Nancy. A lot of women aren't comfortable with these questions. But all of your symptoms are pointing to one thing and I just need to be sure before I tell you." Dr. Chase said.

"Will you at least tell me what you _think_ it is?" Nancy asked.

Dr. Chase nodded. "I think you may be pregnant."

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**Author's Note: So, is she really pregnant? I guess we'll find out in the next chapter. That is really cruel for me to make you wait, huh? But it only makes you want that next chapter even more! Mwhahahahah!**

**I also realized that some of you can't access my email address if you don't have an account with So to make it easier, just email them at You don't really have to give them an excuse, just tell them that you would like to see a name change.**


	9. The News and a Meeting

_Joe Hardy was feeling pretty good about himself. He had just gotten to Las Vegas and had decided to try his luck at the quarter slots at the Saraphina Casino. He had never come to Vegas to do that–which was pretty stupid because everyone came here to take a gamble. _

_No, he had just wanted to get away from all of his problems–to have some time for himself. _

_And he was really impressed. He had been at the slots for a little over an hour now and had done pretty decent for himself. He had already won fifty dollars, but he was now starting to get tired. So, now against his better judgement, he put a few more quarters into the slot machine and was surprised to win twenty-five dollars._

_Now, I'm done, he told himself. He looked at his watch and saw that it was close to midnight. He definitely needed to get some sleep. He hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours and it was starting to wear him down._

_He collected his cash redeeming ticket from the machine and went to the cashier to cash it in. The cashier counted out him money to him, and he quickly pocketed it. He had heard stories about people hanging around the casinos, waiting to rob people to had just won and he wasn't about to be one of those people._

_Joe was making his way to the elevators when he heard crying nearby. He turned around to see a beautiful woman sitting on a bench in front of the massive fountain that greeted everyone as they walked into the casino. He was really tired and the last thing that he needed was to worry about someone else's problems. But he couldn't just let her sit all alone like that._

_Sighing, Joe made his way over to the woman._

_"I'm sorry," Joe said hesitantly. "I don't mean to intrude on you, but I couldn't help but hear you crying. Is there something I could help you with?"_

_The woman looked at him with a glare._

_"I'm sorry." Joe said, stepping back. If she didn't want his help, he wasn't going to press it. He turned and started back for the elevators._

_"Wait," the woman called. _

_Joe turned back to look at her._

_"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that," she said, wiping the tears from her cheeks._

_"It's okay," Joe said. "You're obviously very upset."_

_"I shouldn't be out here, crying like this in front of everyone. I'm only begging for attention when I do this." She said with a small smile._

_Joe sat down beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?"_

_"I'm sure you don't want a complete stranger to pour out all of her problems to you." she said._

_"Well, let's change that." Joe said. He held out his hand. "I'm Joe Hardy. And you are–"_

_The woman looked at his hand and smiled. "Abby Collins," she said, shaking his hand._

_Joe smiled at her. "See, now we're not strangers. So tell me what's bothering you."_

_Abby sighed and then looked around nervously. "Can we go somewhere else and talk?"_

_Joe noticed her nervous glance. "Sure. I have a room here. Would that be okay?"_

_"I don't know," Abby said, nervously_

_"Don't worry." Joe said. "I have a girlfriend. I'm not trying to get with you."_

_"I'm sorry." Abby said with an embarrassed smile. "It's just, this is–"_

_"–Vegas, I know." Joe said. "Come on."_

_Joe and Abby took the elevator to the eighth floor and Joe led the way to his room. When they got in there, Abby sat down on the sofa in the room and Joe got her a glass of water. Abby took it gratefully and took several sips from it. Joe sat down across from her, waiting for her to finish drinking._

_"So, what's bothering you?" he asked. "And it can't be nothing because not many people will cry in a casino full of people."_

_"I think I may be in trouble," Abby said._

_Joe looked at her with concern in his eyes. "What kind of trouble?"_

_"I guess I should start from the beginning." Abby said. "First of all, I work here. I'm the star of Goddess of Dance–it's our stage show that we have here. I also happen to dating the owner of this casino, Stuart Grayson."_

_"Seems like you're doing pretty well," Joe said._

_Abby forced a small smile. "Yeah. That is, until tonight."_

_"What happened?" Joe asked._

_"I saw something that I shouldn't have." Abby said, just above a whisper._

_"Abby, what was it?" Joe said, worried about the fear in her voice._

_"I saw Stuart and his goon kill someone. And now I think they may have seen me." Abby said._

_"Did you call the police?" Joe asked._

_"Are you kidding?" Abby scoffed. "In Vegas, the police are bought off, especially by the casino owners. If they do something, the police look the other way. So if I go in, telling them that Stuart killed someone, they'd never believe me."_

_"You have to tell someone, Abby." Joe said._

_"I know what Stuart is capable of," Abby said, that fear rising in her voice again. "I know what he's like when he gets angry. It doesn't matter if we're dating or not, he won't let me live if he knows what I saw."_

_"Then let me help." Joe said._

_"And how can you do that?" Abby asked._

_"I'm a detective. I can get you out of this mess and make sure that Stuart pays for this." Joe said._

_"I couldn't ask you to do that, Joe. I just met you; you don't know me well enough to trust anything that I'm telling you." Abby said._

_"Let's just say that I'm a pretty good judge of character." Joe said. "Like I said, don't worry about anything."_

"Joe wake up! Joe!"

Someone was shaking him, Joe realized dully. He opened one eye to see Frank looking at him frantically.

"Joe, you need to get up!" Frank said, in a harsher voice.

Joe shot up from the couch and began to look around. Frank stared at him quizzically.

"What are you looking for?" Frank asked, impatiently.

"Nothing," Joe said. "It's just..."

"Just what?" Frank asked.

"I think I'm remembering a little bit from the other night." Joe said.

"What?" Frank asked. "Joe, that's great! What do you remember?"

"Meeting Abby. She was crying and I stopped to see if I could help her. She blew me off at first, but then I got her to come to my hotel room and she said she was in trouble." Joe explained.

"What kind of trouble?" Frank asked.

"She said that she was dating the owner of the Saraphina–Stuart Grayson–and that she saw him and one of his guys killing someone. She was scared that they had seen her. But that's all I got before you woke me up." Joe said.

"This is big, Joe." Frank said.

"No kidding," Joe said. "Now, what were you in such a panic about?"

"It's Nancy–she's not here." Frank said.

"Where is she?" Joe asked.

"I don't know," Frank said, shaking his head. "She was gone before I woke up."

"Have you tried calling her?" Joe asked.

"Not yet," Frank said. "I wanted to see if you had seen her first."

"I haven't." Joe said. "But Nancy never goes anywhere without leaving a note or something. Did you see one?"

Frank looked at Joe, a little embarrassed. "I didn't look. I just woke up and overreacted."

Joe rolled his eyes at his brother and sighed. He then turned and looked at the table behind him and saw the note that Nancy had left.

"Uh, Frank." Joe said, holding up the note.

"Not a word," Frank said, taking the note. He read it and let out a sigh of relief.

"What does it say?" Joe asked.

"She went to the doctor." Frank said. But then his face clouded in a mask of hurt. "Why didn't she wake me? I would have went with her."

"Probably because she knew that you would overreact like you just did." Joe commented.

"Funny," Frank said. He reached for the phone and called Nancy's cell phone. He let it ring and then let out a frustrated breath when her voicemail picked up. "Hey, it's me. Call me as soon as you get this."

"She's fine, Frank." Joe said as he saw Frank dial her number again. "She'll let you know as soon as she knows something."

"I know," Frank said, putting down the receiver.

"Now I, on the other hand, am not fine." Joe said.

"Let me guess–food." Frank said.

"Right you are." Joe said. "And I want to get out of here."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Joe." Frank said.

"I don't care what you think right now, Frank."Joe said. "I either get out of here with you or I'll get out of here by myself."

"Let me take a shower," Frank said. "That is, if your stomach can wait."

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It was a good thing thatNancy was sitting down, because she wasn't sure that her legs would have been able to hold her up. She stared at Dr. Chase, unable to say anything. _I could be PREGNANT! But how?_

Well, she knew _how_; she didn't need that part explained to her. And sure, she and Frank had been discussing the possibility of starting a family, but she didn't think it would be _now_. _Just calm down, _Nancy told herself. _Dr. Chase just said she _thought_ I may be pregnant._

Nancy didn't realize she was off in her own world until Dr. Chase cleared her throat.

"Nancy...are you okay?" Dr. Chase asked.

Nancy felt her head slowly moving up and down.

"Can you speak?" Dr. Chase asked.

"Y-Yes," Nancy finally said. "I'm sorry. I just kind of zoned out."

"It's okay," Dr. Chase said, understandingly. "Now, we can't be definite until we do a pregnancy test, so I don't want you to get your hopes up."

"I understand," Nancy said. "Can we do it now?"

"Of course," Dr. Chase said. She looked at Nancy questioningly. "I have to ask you this, Nancy. Are you sure this is something you want?"

"I've always wanted to be a mother," Nancy said. "I guess it just took me by surprise, is all."

Dr. Chase smiled at her. "Let's go find out for sure, then."

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Nancy was unable to stop moving around in her chair. Any minute now, Dr. Chase would be coming in, telling her if her life was about to change. And now that Nancy thought about it, maybe it would be great if it happened now. She wasn't lying to Dr. Chase when she said that she wanted to be a mother. It had always been a dream of hers. And when she talked to Frank about it, he had this wonderful look on his face that made her melt.

There was a knock on the door and Dr. Chase walked in.

_This is it, _Nancy told herself. She mentally crossed her fingers as Dr. Chase sat down across from her. It made Nancy nervous because Dr. Chase was showing no emotion on her face.

Dr. Chase took a deep breath. "I have great news."

"You just saved a bunch of money on your car insurance by switching to Geico?" Nancy deadpanned.

Dr. Chase laughed. "You're a fan of the commercials, too, I see."

"Yeah, sorry." Nancy said.

"It's okay," Dr. Chase said. "It kind of broke the tension in here."

"Okay, so...news." Nancy said.

"Yes, great news." She looked at Nancy and smiled. "Congratulations, Nancy. You're going to be a mother."

Nancy watched Dr. Chase just to make sure she wasn't joking. When she realized that she wasn't, she felt tears spring to her eyes and she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Oh, my God." She said. She found that she was laughing and crying at the same time. "Oh, my God."

"I'm hoping those are tears of joy that I'm seeing." Dr. Chase said.

Nancy nodded, trying to stop crying and laughing. "Yes, definitely joy. Thank you so much, Dr. Chase."

"I don't think I'm the one you should be thanking," Dr. Chase said with a smile. "But you're welcome, Nancy. Now, unfortunately, since this is a walk-in clinic, we don't have the capabilities of doing an ultrasound. You need to get to an OB/GYN as soon as you can so they can make sure that everything is all right with you and the baby."

"I'm not from around here, but my husband and I should be leaving in a few days. When we get back to Chicago, I'll make sure that I see one." Nancy said.

"Just take care of yourself, Nancy. The beginning of a pregnancy is always the most critical time." Dr. Chase said.

"I will, Dr. Chase." Nancy promised.

Dr. Chase stood up and walked to the door. "Congratulations again, Nancy."

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Nancy felt as if she was floating when she got back to her hotel room. She hadn't called Frank yet and the thought of telling him was making her bubble over with excitement. She put down her things and looked around the room.

"Frank!" she called.

_Where could he be? _Nancy wondered. She looked in their bedroom and still didn't find him. She picked up the phone and dialed his cell phone.

The phone rang three times before she heard his voice.

"Finally!" He said. "I was wondering when you would call me back."

"I'm sorry," Nancy said. "Where are you?"

"Joe needed to get out and get something to eat. We're going to be back soon." Frank said. "Did you find out what was wrong with you?"

"Yeah," Nancy said. "But I need to talk to you about it."

"Why? Is it bad?" Frank asked, worried.

Nancy didn't want to tell him on the phone. "Just get back as soon as you can."

"All right," Frank said, sighing.

Nancy hung up the phone and sighed. She didn't care if Frank was annoyed with her right now. This was big news and he needed to be here and hear it in person.

Nancy walked towards the bedroom, but a knock on the door stopped her. Nancy looked at the door, confused. She hadn't called for room service.

_It could be the maid or Dad, _she thought.

"Who is it?" Nancy called.

"Management," came the voice on the other side of the door.

_What could they want? _Nancy wondered. She walked to the door and opened it so see a well-dressed man that she didn't recognize. But then she saw who was standing next to him, and her blood ran cold. It was the security guard from the Saraphina!

"You must be Nancy Drew," the well-dressed man said. "I think we need to have a talk."

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**Author's Note: Yay, Nancy's preggers! I am so excited about it and I'm the author! And now Joe is starting to remember a little from that night. Also, please keep in mind that everything may not be entirely accurate. But I am going about it the best that I can, so please bear with me. I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter and please review!**


	10. Threats and Promises

Nancy knew this wasn't a social call. It was no coincidence that the same security guard that she saw the other night, should just happen to show up at her door. And worse, he knew who she really was. _No, this isn't good at all, _she thought.

But she also knew she didn't want any trouble. And how do you keep trouble out? Slamming the door shut in their faces was certainly one way.

"I'm sorry," Nancy said. "I think you have the wrong room."

"No," the well-dressed man smiled at her. "I don't think we do."

She tried to shut the door, but it didn't work. The security guard pushed it back open, causing Nancy to stumble back. She then looked down at their jackets and saw they each had a gun.

"I really would like to involve as few people as I can." The well-dressed man said. He nodded at the security guard and he closed the door, leaving it slightly ajar.

"If you don't leave, I'll call security." Nancy said, backing towards the phone.

The man actually laughed at her. "It won't help. I'm a very powerful man. Perhaps I should introduce myself–I'm Stuart Grayson, owner of the Saraphina." He pointed at the security guard. "And this is Phil Minor, head of security for the Saraphina."

"Did you forget where your hotel was?" Nancy asked, sarcastically.

"Ah, a sense of humor." Stuart said. "I can certainly appreciate that in a woman. But I am a busy man, Mrs. Drew, so let's talk."

Stuart sat down on the sofa and pointed to the small chair in front of him. "Please, have a seat."

Nancy hesitated. She really didn't want to be in this position. Especially since she didn't know what Stuart Grayson knew about her and what he wanted with her. But then she thought of her baby. She didn't want to do anything to jeopardize this pregnancy. She looked over to see that Phil Minor was guarding the door, so there was no getting out that way.

_You might as well just get this over with. Find out what he wants; maybe it could help out Joe. And besides, you called Frank–he'll be here soon._

Nancy sat down slowly in the chair and looked at Stuart. He flashed her a dazzling smile and nodded his head.

"Good," he said. "Now, tell me what you were doing at my hotel the other night."

"I was looking for something," Nancy said.

"Really? That's odd, because the hotel room you were caught in was closed off. So, I have to wonder, what could you have possibly been looking for in a room that wasn't registered to you in the first place?" Stuart asked.

Nancy was starting to feel uncomfortable. She had no answer that she could give him that wouldn't lead right back to Joe. And she didn't want him in any more trouble than he was already in.

"Having trouble coming up with an answer?" Stuart mocked.

Nancy ignored his tone. "What is this about?"

"Did you know I could have you arrested for breaking and entering?" Stuart asked.

"Then do it," Nancy said.

Stuart shook his head. "You don't think I know you could get out of it in no time? I've read about you, Mrs. Drew. You have quite a reputation."

"Glad to know that I have a fan," Nancy said coolly.

Stuart chuckled at that remark. "Not a fan. In this business, it's important to know who I'm dealing with. A few phone calls and I found out that you're a reporter for the _Chicago Tribune_. And not only a reporter, but also a detective. As is your husband, Frank Hardy, and his brother, Joe."

"Anyone can find that out. All you had to do was Google it." Nancy said.

Stuart ignored her. "And now you're here to try to clear young Mr. Hardy of murder. I have to say it's quite admirable what you're willing to do for family."

"What can I say? I don't like to see the innocent go away for something they didn't do," Nancy said. "Or the guilty get away with it, no matter how _powerful_ they think they are."

"Let me put it in a way that you will understand, then. If young Mr. Hardy doesn't take the fall for this murder, I will make it a lot worse for him." Stuart said.

"You shouldn't make idle threats, Mr. Grayson." Nancy said.

"There's nothing idle about what I'm saying to you, Mrs. Drew." Stuart said. "Drop what you're doing and leave it alone."

" There's something you should realize, Mr. Grayson." Nancy said.

"What's that?" Stuart asked, amused.

Nancy leaned forward in her seat. "Criminals always make a mistake, no matter how careful they are."

Stuart stood up and walked the couple of steps to where Nancy was sitting. He put his hands on either railing of her chair, causing her to sit back. He stopped when his face was mere inches from hers.

"There's something you should also realize, Mrs. Drew," he said.

Nancy tried to ignore his warm breath on her face. "What's that?" she asked, her bravado fading.

"I never make a mistake," he said, coldly.

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Frank hung up cell phone, frowning. _What was going on with Nancy? And why couldn't she tell me over the phone?_

Joe watched Frank as he stared at his cell phone. "That had to be some phone call for you to look at the phone like that."

"It was Nancy. She's back from the doctor, but she won't tell me what they said." Frank explained.

"If it was something terrible, she would have told you, Frank." Joe said, finishing up his last bite of pancakes.

"You're right," Frank said. "But I'm not going to sit around, waiting for you to finish up. Come on, Joe."

Joe scowled at Frank as he threw money down on the table. "This is the first decent meal I've had in a couple of days."

"Yeah, and you've been eating for an hour straight." Frank said, standing up.

Joe took a large gulp of orange juice and grabbed the last strip of bacon from his plate, before following Frank out of Mandy's Diner.

"You could have waited on me," Joe said to his brother.

"I thought you would get the hint if I left," Frank shot back.

They walked the couple of blocks back to their hotel in silence. They got on the elevator and took it up to the fifteenth floor. Frank had his keycard out by the time the elevator doors opened. He and Joe walked to room 1515 and just as Frank was about to unlock the door, he noticed that it was standing ajar. He looked at Joe and held a finger to his lips. Joe nodded his head and then looked at the door.

Frank flung the door open and was pushed aside as a beefy man rushed out of the room. Alarmed, Frank ran into the room to see a well-dressed man cornering Nancy in her chair.

"Get away from her!" Frank shouted.

The man looked at Frank and smiled and then looked at Nancy again. "Remember what I told you, Mrs. Drew."

The man stepped away from Nancy and walked up to Frank and Joe. "I just needed to have a word with your wife," he said to Frank.

"Who are you?" Frank demanded.

"I'm sure she'll explain everything to you," he said, smiling.

Frank glared as the man left their room. As soon as the door was closed, he rushed over to Nancy, who was now standing up.

"Are you okay?" he asked, hugging her.

"I'm fine, Frank. He didn't do anything to me. We were just talking." Nancy said, calmly.

"What did he want? Who is he?" Frank asked.

"Never mind who he is; we should go after him," Joe said.

Nancy shook her head. "Don't–especially you, Joe. The guy you just met? That's Stuart Grayson, owner of the Saraphina. And he was here pretty much admitting that you were being framed."

"What?" Joe asked, shocked.

"That's more reason why we should go after him." Frank said.

"No, Frank," Nancy said, shaking her head. She sat down on the edge of the sofa and looked at Frank and Joe. "He is a very powerful man here, so he has tons of connections around here. And if we go after them, he'll just make it worse for Joe–he pretty much guaranteed that to me."

"So, what are we supposed to do? We can't just let him get away with this." Frank said.

"You're right, we can't. We'll have to figure out something." Nancy said.

"Well, while you two figure it out, I'm going down to the vending machines." Joe said.

"You have got to be kidding me." Frank said.

"I never kid about food, Frank." Joe said, seriously.

Frank rolled his eyes at his brother as the door closed behind him.

"Well in the midst of all this craziness, I forgot to ask what the doctor said to you." Frank said.

"Oh," Nancy said, grinning. She instantly forgot about Stuart Grayson. "Um, I think you should sit down, Frank."

"Why?" Frank asked, confused.

"Trust me, okay?" Nancy said.

"All right–whatever you say." Frank sat down on the sofa and Nancy stood up in front of him. She took his hands in hers and looked into his eyes.

"I hope you're not asking me to marry you because I'm already spoken for." Frank said seriously.

"Shut up," Nancy said. She took a deep breath.

"You're really freaking me out here, Nan." Frank said. "What's going on?"

"Geez, you really know how to mess up a moment," Nancy said rolling her eyes. "Will you just shut up and let me speak?"

"Sorry." Frank said, slinking down.

"Thank you," Nancy said. She turned away from Frank and when she looked back at him she had tears in her eyes. She brought his hands to her stomach and left them there. "Congratulations, Frank–you're going to be a daddy."

Frank stared at her for a solid minute, as if time had stood still at that very moment. When he finally snapped back to the present, Nancy was looking at him, smiling with tears falling down her cheeks.

"You kind of need to say something," Nancy said.

"I'm sorry, honey," Frank said, standing up. He wrapped her up in a big hug. "Please tell me you're not joking."

"Why would I joke about something like this?" Nancy asked. "It's something that you've wanted for a long time."

"I know. I'm sorry," Frank said. He beamed at her. "You're right–we've _both _wanted this for a while now."

"So, are you happy?" Nancy asked.

"Are you kidding? I've never been so happy in my life." Frank said. "I mean, except for when I married you, of course."

"I know what you meant," Nancy said. She gave him a kiss. "This is good, Frank."

Frank smiled down at her. "This is the best. We should celebrate."

"The celebration will come. I just want to get this mess with Joe over with first." Nancy said.

"You've got yourself a deal," Frank said. He leaned down until his forehead was touching hers and smiled.

Just then Joe came back into the room. Frank and Nancy looked at him, beaming.

"What are you two freaks so happy about?" Joe asked, closing the door.

"Why don't you come in here and we'll tell you, _Uncle Joe_." Nancy said.

"What are you talking about?" Joe asked. "And why did you just call me 'Uncle Joe'?"

"Nancy's pregnant." Frank said, beaming.

"What?" Joe asked, shocked. He gave Nancy a big hug. "Nancy, this is great!"

"I know," Nancy said, smiling.

"Uncle Joe, huh?" Joe said appreciatively. "I like the sound of that. And I also like the sound of Joe Junior."

"Keep dreaming, _Uncle _Joe." Frank said. "If anything, it would be Frank Junior."

"Keep dreaming to you both." Nancy said.

"You're telling me you wouldn't even consider naming the baby Frank Junior?" Frank asked.

"We don't know if the baby is a boy or girl." Nancy said.

"Well, we can name it Francis if it's a girl." Frank said.

"So, what did you two do today?" Nancy asked, changing the subject.

"Joe completely shut down Mandy's Diner." Frank said, looking back at his brother.

"He's exaggerating," Joe said to Nancy.

"You went to the buffet at least five times," Frank argued. "You were making everyone nervous."

"It did say all-you-can-eat buffet," Joe said.

Frank ignored his brother and turned to Nancy, smiling. "Oh, Joe remembered something from the night of Abby's murder, though."

"Really?" Nancy asked, interested.

"I remembered meeting Abby. We talked for a while and she told me she was dating none other than Stuart Grayson." Joe said.

"Wow," Nancy said.

"That's not the best part," Joe said. "She also said that she witnessed him and another guy kill someone. She wasn't sure if they had seen her or not, so she took off. But now with this visit to you, it's looking even more obvious that Stuart or his goon killed Abby, and they set me up to take the fall."

"Now all we have to do is prove it," Nancy said.

"Which shouldn't be too hard if the guy is willing to come here and tell you to let Joe take the heat for something he didn't do." Frank said.

"Actually, it will be hard. He knows what we look like, so it will make it a little tricky for us." Nancy said.

"Well, then we go undercover," Frank said. "I think I should be the one to do it."

"Why?" Nancy asked.

"Well, it's obvious that Joe can't do it and you're pregnant, so I think I'm the only choice that we have." Frank explained.

"I'm pregnant, Frank, not an invalid. And I am perfectly capable of doing this." Nancy said.

"I wasn't saying that you couldn't–" Frank began.

"And another thing," Nancy said, interrupting him. "Just because I'm pregnant does not mean that I"m going to stop investigating and stop working for the paper."

Joe sat on the sofa and watched the two of them argue.

"I never said that you had to stop," Frank said.

"Good," Nancy said. "Then it's settled."

"But I do want you to use more caution," Frank said. "That's _our _child that you're carrying and I don't want anything to happen to you or the baby."

"We'll continue this conversation later." Nancy said.

"We sure will," Frank agreed.

Nancy gave him a look. "Besides, the only way we'll be able to get anything good on Grayson is talking to Abby's friends and coworkers. Maybe she told them something before she was murdered."

"And how are you going to get answers from them? They're not just going to come out and talk to you, especially if they know there's a chance that Grayson will find out." Joe said.

"Just leave that to me," Nancy said.

"She was a dancer, Nan. There is no way that I am going to stand by and watch you perform on that stage." Frank said.

"Who said anything about being on stage?" Nancy asked. "They are always looking for interns or stage hands or assistants. It doesn't matter–I can get in and get what we need."

"What if Grayson discovers you?" Frank asked, concerned. "You saw the pictures of what happened to Abby. You think he'll show any mercy on you, especially when he knows that you're a detective and a reporter?"

"That's why I have the two of you," Nancy said. "You'll watch out for me."

"How?" Frank asked.

Nancy stood up and put her arms around his waist. "Don't worry so much, Hardy. It gives you wrinkles."

"Not to mention a few other things it gives me whenever you go and do crazy things like this." Frank said.

Nancy gave him an innocent smile. "But I'm worth every bit of it."

Frank's worry lines melted away and he smiled at her. "God help me, you are."

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Stuart looked up, amused, as Phil Minor stormed into his office.

"Please, Phil–come in." Stuart said, sarcastically.

Phil just glared at him and started pacing back and forth.

"There's something obviously bothering you, Phil." Stuart said. "Why don't you tell me what it is?"

"What we just did? It was completely stupid." Phil said.

"I'm sorry that you see it that way," Stuart said.

"How did threatening the Drew woman help us any?" Phil demanded. "Maybe it was just me, but she didn't seem to be that intimidated by you."

"You noticed that, too." Stuart said, grinning.

"You think this is some kind of joke?" Phil stopped pacing. "If anything, it will make her even more determined to pin us for this murder."

"Glad to hear you're saying 'us'." Stuart said. "Because if I do happen to take the fall for this, you are going to go down with me."

Phil didn't say anything.

"Because I'm not the one that framed Mr. Hardy for this. You're the one that planted the evidence, so if any other DNA was found, it would be yours." Stuart said, watching Phil for a reaction.

"I'm not the one that stabbed Abby," Phil said. "You did that on your own."

"You're right...I did." Stuart said. "But who was the one that stayed and cleaned up the mess?"

Phil stared at Stuart, trying to figure out a way he could get himself out of this mess. But any way he thought of it, he was stuck in a corner. There _was _no way out of it–he would go to prison if the truth came out.

"So, what do we do?" Phil finally asked.

"We continue to keep an eye on everyone. But I think we need to send a message to them to show that we're serious." Stuart said.

"What did you have in mind?" Phil asked.

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**Author's Note: And yet more suspense! I hope that you liked this chapter–I really tried to give them true emotions; I only hope I did them justice. As always, let me know what you think?**


	11. Master of Disguise

Nancy had to admit that Frank did a really great job. She had sent him out to find a disguise for her and he really pulled through. In fact, he pulled through so well, that she didn't even recognize herself when she looked in the mirror. She was wearing a dark brown wig that was styled in a pixie cut, and he had even found some green color contacts for her. If anyone did happen to recognize her, she would just shrug it off and tell them they were mistaken.

It was the next morning and she was now pushing through the doors of the Saraphina Casino and stopping by the information desk to see how to get to the stage. A middle-aged woman kindly pointed out the way and Nancy was soon at the entrance to_ Goddess of Dance. _She took a deep breath and pushed open the doors and was greeted with the sounds of conversation. No one paid any attention to her as she made her way to the stage.

She was glad that she already had a cover. She was now Stephanie Danes, intern for the show. She could freely investigate and get the dirt on Grayson and no one would be the wiser. To everyone, it would just sound like curiosity what getting the best of her. Her father had pulled some strings and had gotten her the cover that she needed.

Nancy looked around, trying to see if she could spot who was in charge. She was interrupted when a female voice spoke beside her.

"Can I help you with something?" the voice said.

Nancy turned around to see a tall girl with shoulder-length reddish-brown hair and brown eyes smiling at her. "I hope so," Nancy said. "I was told to come and talk to a Mrs. Walsh."

"Oh, you mean Susan," the girl said. "She's right over there. Come on, I'll introduce you."

"Thank you," Nancy said, smiling. "I'm Stephanie Danes, by the way."

The girl smiled at her. "Where are my manners? I'm Amelia Grayson. But I usually go by Mia."

"Grayson?" Nancy asked.

"You know the name?" Mia asked, ruefully.

"So, your father..." Nancy said.

"Is the one and only Stuart Grayson." Mia said, grinning. "I keep hoping we'll get at least one person here who doesn't know who he is."

"Mia, I need you over here!" A woman's voice boomed out.

"And now to meet Susan Walsh," Mia said. "Don't let her intimidate you. She really is a softie; she just likes things done her way."

Nancy nodded and soon they were standing in front of an older woman with silver hair who was elegantly dressed in slacks and a light pink blouse.

"You needed to see me, Susan?" Mia asked.

"Yes," Susan said. "One of the girls is complaining that her costume isn't fitting right."

"Let me guess...Sophia." Mia said, rolling her eyes.

"You've got it." Susan said. She then saw Nancy."Who are you?"

Nancy held out her hand. "Stephanie Danes," she said. "Your new intern."

"Of course!" Susan said, shaking her hand. "Albert told me to expect you."

"I guess I'll go deal with Sophia," Mia said with an annoyed sigh.

"Why don't you take Stephanie with you," Susan said. "Might as well start her off deep."

"I'm up for anything," Nancy said.

"You say that now," Mia said. "Just wait until you meet Sophia."

Mia led her back to the dressing rooms and they were soon greeted by a loud voice.

"Where is Mia?"

Mia pushed open the door to the first dressing room they came to. "I'm right here, Sophia."

"It's about time! I've only been calling you for ten minutes now," Sophia said. She saw Nancy and gave her a disgusted look. "Who's your lap dog today?"

Nancy gave her a sweet smile. "Stephanie Danes–and you are?"

"None of your concern," Sophia said. She turned her attention to Mia. "My dress isn't fitting."

"We'll get it fixed, Sophia." Mia said, calmly. "It's nothing to get worked up about."

"That's easy for you to say." Sophia griped. "You're not the one on stage performing in front of a sold out crowd."

"We'll get it fixed, Sophia." Mia said again. "Just calm down and breathe."

Sophia looked as if she wanted to say something else, but she decided against it. Mia walked out of the dressing room, sighing. Nancy gave Sophia another sweet smile and then followed Mia.

"So, what's the story with Sophia?" Nancy asked.

"Ever since Abby died, Sophia's become the star of the show. And she's let that fact get to her head a bit." Mia explained.

"Abby?" Nancy asked, playing dumb.

"Abby Collins–she was the star of our show until a few days ago." Mia said.

"What happened?" Nancy asked.

Nancy could see a flash of anger appear on Mia's face. "She was murdered–butchered. But, luckily, they caught the bastard that did it."

Nancy tried not to show any emotion as Mia talked. She didn't want to let her know that she really knew about the murder.

"Were you two close?" Nancy asked.

"Best friends since we were five." Mia answered

"I really am sorry," Nancy said.

Mia shrugged. "There's nothing that can be done now." She looked at her watch as her stomach grumbled. "You want to join me for lunch? I haven't eaten since last night, and we could use the time to get to know each other."

"Sure," Nancy said.

Mia led the way to the employees' cafeteria and they each got a garden salad and tea. They sat down at the table and began to eat in silence. Nancy decided to break the silence.

"So, what exactly do you do?" she asked.

"I kind of oversee the show. I make sure that everything goes smoothly so we're not embarrassed." Mia said. "It's a cutthroat business in Vegas and my dad wanted someone he could trust. I had just graduated from college and still wasn't sure what I wanted to do, so he gave the show to me."

"So, how is it, working for your dad?" Nancy asked, taking another bite of salad.

"It's okay," Mia said, shrugging. "We try to avoid each other."

"It must be hard," Nancy said.

"Not really. It's a big casino, so that helps." Mia said. "So, what about you, Stephanie? What's your story?"

"Well, I'm originally from California. I tried my way through Hollywood for a while, doing behind-the-scenes work. I got tired of that, so I decided to try my luck in Vegas for a while." Nancy said.

"Cute how you said the word 'luck'." Mia said. "So, are you involved with anyone? Or am I being too personal?"

"It's okay," Nancy said. She was trying to decide how much truth to tell Mia, so she decided to go half-way. "I'm married–for a year now." She held out her hand for Mia to see her ring.

"Still in the honeymoon stage," Mia said, smiling.

Nancy smiled at her. "Yeah. So what about you?"

"Currently single. Just the way I prefer it right now." Mia said, laughing.

"Mia, honey!" A male voice called from across the cafeteria.

Nancy looked up and instantly regretted it. Stuart Grayson was making his way towards their table.

Mia stood up. "Daddy, hi! What are you doing here?"

Stuart Grayson smiled. "Since when do I need an excuse to see my daughter?" he asked, hugging her.

"It usually means that you want something," Mia said.

Stuart held up his hands. "I want nothing–cross my heart."

"We'll see," Mia said. "Daddy, I'd like you to meet the show's new intern. Stephanie Danes, this is my father, Stuart Grayson."

Nancy held out her hand to Stuart and he shook it firmly. She inwardly cringed when he kept staring at her.

"Have we met?" Stuart asked.

Nancy gave an innocent smile. "I don't think so. Believe me, I would remember if I met you."

"You're probably right. Everyone in Vegas looks the same after a while," he said, smiling.

Nancy nodded and gave a small sigh of relief. She really didn't need Grayson to recognize her–then Joe really would be screwed.

"I hope that you enjoy your experience here," Stuart said. "You have a wonderful leader right here." He put his hands on Mia's shoulders.

"Don't you have somewhere to be, Daddy?" Mia asked, blushing.

"Yes, of course I do. Is it really so wrong for me to want to brag about you?" Stuart asked.

"When you do it in front of me, yes it is." Mia said.

"I'm sorry," Stuart said. "Stephanie, it was really nice to meet you."

"You too, sir," Nancy said.

Stuart walked away and Mia gave Nancy an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. I really didn't know he would stop by."

"It's okay," Nancy said. "It's obvious that he really loves you."

"Yes, he does." Mia said. "My mom left us when I was eight. So, it's just been the two if us since then."

"I'm sorry," Nancy said.

Mia shrugged. "It's okay. I was better off with him, anyway."

Nancy gave Mia a polite smile. _This is going to kill her when she finds out the truth, _she thought sadly.

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Carson Drew was really at his wit's end. He had been working all day with the police, trying to find a way out for Joe. And so far, the police weren't being too helpful.

Not that he could really blame them, though. They _did _have a lot evidence against him, and Carson had none that could clear him. He had to admit that whoever was framing Joe was doing a pretty good job at it.

He walked across the street to the parking garage, where he had parked his rental car. He was just ready to get back to the hotel and take a hot, relaxing shower. He took the elevator to the third level where he had parked and got into his car. He loosened the tie around his neck and started the engine.

Carson was so engrossed with his own thoughts that he didn't hear the roaring of an engine as he backed up. By the time he did hear it, it was too late.

The next thing he knew, a dark blue sedan was barreling at him at top speed.

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"So, have I scared you away yet?" Mia asked Nancy as they walked back to the stage.

"Surprisingly, no." Nancy said, smiling.

"Good. I can't tell you how many interns we lose in the first few hours of them starting," Mia said with a laugh.

Nancy was about to say something else when her cell phone rang. "I'm really sorry," she said. "I thought I had turned this off."

"Oh, it's okay." Mia said, with a wave if her hand. "I have to talk to Susan anyway."

Nancy pressed the "talk" button on her phone. "Hello?"

"Nan, it's me," Frank's anxious voice said.

"What's going on?" Nancy asked.

"Nan, I don't know how to say this, but your father was just in an accident."

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**Author's Note: Okay, using my own name as one of her aliases,really cheesy...I know.But, hey, I really like my name and I wanted to see it in a story!As always, let me know what you think! Oh, and I got the category name change! Thank you to everyone who emailed and helped make this possible!**


	12. Down the Drain

Nancy gripped the phone tightly in her hand. _This could not be happening._

"How bad?" Nancy asked.

"It looks worse than it really is. He was knocked out and he has a few cuts and bruises." Frank assured her. "But the doctor says that he will be fine."

"Thank God." Nancy let out a huge sigh of relief. "Frank, I haven't even told him about the baby yet."

"You'll get the chance, Nan." Frank said. "They're keeping him for a few hours for observation."

"Do they know who did this? Was it an accident?" Nancy asked.

"What do you think?" he asked quietly.

"Grayson." Nancy muttered. "Look, I have to go but I have a lot to tell you. I'll see you in a little bit."

Nancy hung up the phone and looked up in frustration. _So Grayson wanted to play rough–well, two can play that game._

If he thought for one second, it would make them back off, he had another thing coming to him. Now she was more determined than ever to nail him for Abby's murder. Not only for Joe, but for Mia as well.

"Stephanie!" Mia was calling her name. Nancy looked up as Mia walked towards her. "Are you okay? I've been calling your name for the last couple of minutes."

Nancy nodded and forced a smile. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," Mia said. "Is something wrong? Do you need to leave?"

"Everything will be fine," Nancy assured her. "So, what do you need me to do?"

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"It's done," Phil Minor said into his phone as soon as he got back into his office.

"Very good. Did anyone see you?" Stuart Grayson asked.

"I don't think so," Phil answered.

"What do you mean, you don't think so? Someone either saw you or they didn't." Stuart sounded annoyed.

Phil tried not to let his anger show. "No. No one saw me," he said through gritted teeth.

"Good–that's how I like things to be done." Stuart said.

"So, what do we do now?" Phil asked.

"We wait and see what happens." Stuart said.

"Do you think that's wise?" Phil asked, nervously.

"Are you questioning me, Phil?" Stuart asked with a deadly softness.

"No," Phil said. "I just don't want them to come after us."

"They won't," Stuart assured him. Just then his private line beeped. "I have to go, Phil. Be sure to keep an eye on things."

Stuart hung up before Phil could say anything else and switched over to his private line. "Stuart Grayson," he said into the receiver.

"Stuart, it's Tommy," said a male voice on the other end.

Stuart inwardly cringed. Detective Tommy Beltini was his inside guy in the Las Vegas PD.

"Tommy, what can I do for you?" Stuart asked.

"I just wanted to give you a heads-up. The chief has been getting a lot of pressure from the mayor–we may have to let Hardy go."

Anger boiled inside of Stuart–_this could not be happening!_

"How? Why?" he asked.

"Some of that evidence that we took from the hotel room was contaminated. The mayor says that the case will never hold up and he doesn't want to run the risk of lawsuit against the department." Tommy explained.

"This was supposed to be an open-and-shut case," Stuart said.

"I know, but I have to do what the chief says. Sorry Stuart," Tommy said and hung up.

Stuart slammed the receiver down in frustration. Things were definitely not going his way right now. Well, he'll just have to fix that.

It was time to put plan B to work.

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Frank and Joe jumped up from the chairs they were sitting in when Nancy opened the door later that evening. Nancy looked at them, confused, as she put down her bag.

"I didn't know I was going to get a welcome committee," she said.

"Where have you been?" Frank asked.

"I've been at the Saraphina–the same place I've been all day." Nancy answered.

"I thought you would have taken off early, after what happened with your dad and all," Frank said.

"You told me he was all right. There was no reason for me to leave, Frank." Nancy said in a tired voice.

"Listen to you, Nan. You barely even able to talk," Frank said.

"Frank, I really don't want to have this argument right now." Nancy said. She went to the cooler and grabbed an apple juice. "I'm fine–I'm not pushing myself."

Frank watched as she took a swig of juice. "I'm sorry," he said. "I guess I'm just a little more worried now, than usual."

"It's fine," Nancy said. She sat down on the sofa and took off her shoes. "So, how's my dad?"

"He's fine. We took him back to his room so he could rest," Joe explained. "The doctor gave him something to help with the pain."

"That's good," Nancy said. "So, I guess you two are waiting to hear about my day."

"Well, you did promise us something when you got back," Frank said, sitting beside her.

"You're very right–I did," Nancy said. "Well, you'll never guess who's in charge of the show over at the Saraphina."

"Who?" Joe asked.

"Stuart Grayson's daughter–Mia," Nancy said.

"So, he has a daughter," Frank said.

Nancy nodded. "Yeah, and they're close, Frank. I don't think she has any idea what kind of man her father is. And I hate that, because I really like her."

"Did she tell you anything?" Joe asked.

"Abby was her best friend. I didn't really get a chance to ask her much about it; she had me working all day." Nancy said. "But I plan on talking to her again tomorrow."

"Good," Frank said. "We need anything we can get right now."

"What have you two been up to?" Nancy asked.

"Nothing, really. We were at the hospital almost all day with your dad." Frank said.

"Did the police find anything out about who hit him?" Nancy asked.

Frank shook his head. "No, nothing. Whoever it him, took off as soon as it happened."

"I still think it had to be Grayson," Nancy said.

"Or his goon that was with him," Frank said.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm going to bed," Joe said.

Nancy let out a big yawn. "I'm going to take a shower and head that way, too. I have to get back to the Saraphina, early tomorrow."

Joe's real reason for wanting to go to sleep, was that he was hoping he would have another memory about the night that Abby was murdered. He just had to find out what really happened that night...

Before it was too late.

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_Abby was smiling at Joe. Joe couldn't help but smile back at her._

_"So, do you have any proof that Grayson killed this guy?" Joe asked._

_"I don't have any evidence personally, but I know that he likes to keep records of his 'business transactions'." Abby said._

_"What kind of records?" Joe asked._

_"He has cameras hidden all over the hotel and casino," Abby said. "He believes in covering himself at all angles. And he never does these things alone–he always has hit handy little goon, Minor with him."_

_"Are you telling me he may have videotaped the murder?" Joe asked, shocked._

_"That's exactly what I'm saying," Abby said. "But don't ask me where they are because I don't know."_

_Just then there was a commotion outside Joe's hotel room. Abby looked at him fearfully. Joe held a finger to his lips and cautiously made his way to the door. Just as he was about to peer out of the peephole, the door flew open knocking him to the floor._

_"Joe!" Abby screamed._

_Joe looked through a haze of pain as two men walked into the room and approached Abby._

_"Well, Abby," said one of the men. "I was wondering where you had run off to."_

_"What do you want, Stuart?" Abby asked, fear in her voice._

_"I want you, Abby," Grayson said. "I need to teach you a lesson."_

_"I didn't mean to see it," Abby said, tears streaming down her face._

_"I wasn't sure if you had or not–but now you have confirmed it for me," Grayson took another step towards her._

_"Stay away from her!"_ _Joe said, now on his feet._

_Grayson looked at Joe, amused and then nodded at Phil. Phil walked over to Joe, preparing to knock him out, but Joe got the first swing in. It hit Phil squarely in the jaw, but he barely even flinched. Joe looked at him, eyes wide, before Phil landed a punch of his own. Joe fell back down to the ground._

_"Please, Stuart! Leave him alone!" Abby pleaded._

_"I can't, Abby. You've got him involved now." Grayson said. "But don't worry; I'm not going to kill him."_

_"Thank you, Stuart," Abby said._

_"But," Grayson continued. "I can't say the same for you."_

_Grayson looked at Phil as he was picking Joe up off the floor. "Don't do anything to him yet; I want him to watch."_

_Phil held Joe in a half nelson and Joe watched as Grayson pulled a knife from his jacket. Joe started to struggle in Phil's grasp, put Phil was holding him too tightly._

_Abby started to sob uncontrollably as Grayson walked to her. He put a hand to her cheek and spoke softly. "My dear, sweet Abby–it pains me to have to do this."_

_"Please, Stuart," Abby whispered._

_Grayson didn't say anything to her. He just raised the knife and plunged it into her chest._

_Joe could do nothing, but watch helplessly as Grayson kept plunging the knife into Abby. Grayson then turned to look at Joe._

_"I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't going to kill you," Grayson said. He walked up and punched Joe hard in the face._

_Joe fell to the ground, barely holding on to consciousness. But he heard one more thing before everything went black._

_"After all, you just murdered Abby."_

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**Author's Note: Now Joe has finally gotten the last piece of the puzzle! As always, please review, good or bad...By the way, there isn't much left on this story. I got registered for college yesterday and I start soon, so I know I will have this story wrapped up by then!**


	13. The Lion's Den

**Author's Note: Thank you for pointing out that I had made a mistake in the last chapter. I fixed it as soon as I read the review. I try my best to double-check each chapter before posting, but sometimes they get past me. I'm just glad that I have you to look out for me! **

**And to alleviate some fears–yes, I will still be writing stories while I am in college, so you have nothing to worry about! (You can't get rid of me that easy!) The only downfall will be is that I probably won't be able to update as often as I like to. But you will get more stories from me!**

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"NOOOO!" Joe woke up with a start. He now remembered everything–he _had _been set up for Abby murder. And worse yet, he had witnessed the whole thing. _That bastard made me watch as he butchered Abby._

He barely even heard the door to Nancy and Frank's bedroom open. He shielded his eyes as the lights were turned on.

"Joe, what happened?" Frank asked.

Joe uncovered his eyes and saw Frank and Nancy standing in front of him, concern all over their faces.

"I know everything," Joe said, dazed. He still hadn't gotten over the shock of it all.

"You had another memory?" Frank asked.

Joe nodded. "I know for sure that I was framed. It was Grayson all along," he said.

"Joe, what happened?" Nancy asked.

"He found out that Abby saw what he did. He made me watch as she begged for her life and he killed her," Joe said.

"Oh, my God," Nancy said, covering her mouth with her hand.

"But we may what we've been looking for to nail Grayson with," Joe said. "She says that he keeps videotapes of everything. He has cameras hidden everywhere. Sort of an insurance policy, I guess."

"This is great news," Frank said.

Joe nodded his head. "I agree–we find those tapes and Grayson goes down."

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The first thing Nancy did when she woke up a few hours later, was run to the bathroom. She was now hitting one of the low-points of her pregnancy: morning sickness. She sat on the floor in front of the toilet waiting for her nausea to pass.

She looked up as the door to the bathroom opened and Frank stuck his head in.

"I really need to start locking that door," Nancy said.

Frank ignored her. "Are you okay?"

Nancy waved a hand at him. "I'm fine, Frank. This is part of the beauty of being pregnant."

"Maybe you shouldn't head back over to the Saraphina," Frank said, sitting on the floor next to her.

Nancy shook her head. "Please, Frank. I don't want to talk about this now."

"We need to talk about it sometime," Frank protested.

"And we will," Nancy looked at him. "I promise."

"I'm holding you to that, Drew," he teased lightly.

"Come on," Nancy said, holding a hand up. "Help me off the floor."

Frank stood up and grabbed her hand. Nancy grabbed her clothes and quickly got dressed. When she went into the sitting room, a cart full of breakfast was waiting for her.

"You need to eat," Frank said.

Nancy put hand to her stomach. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Just a piece of toast, then." Frank said. "Come on, humor me."

Nancy grudgingly grabbed a piece of toast and started to nibble on it. "Where's Joe?" she asked.

"He's taking a walk. Said something about clearing his head," Frank said. "I think he's still shaken up from last night."

"Can you blame him?" Nancy asked.

Frank shook his head. "No, I guess not." He changed the subject. "So, what are you going to do today?"

"I'm going to look for those tapes that Joe was talking about," Nancy said.

"I knew you were going to say that," Frank groaned.

"Keep your phone with you, too." Nancy said. "Just in case there's trouble."

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Frank asked.

Nancy gave him a sidelong glance and then picked up her bag. "I have to go," she said. She gave Frank a kiss and walked out the door.

Nancy quickly walked across the street to the Saraphina and hurried in. She quickly walked to the stage area and found Mia in her office. It was time Mia found out who her dad really was.

Nancy knocked on her door. "Hi," she said as Mia looked up.

"Stephanie, hi!" she said, smiling. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I need to talk to you," Nancy said.

"Please tell me you're not quitting," Mia said, cringing.

"Not exactly," Nancy said. "Mia, I wasn't entirely honest with you. My name isn't Stephanie Danes–it's Nancy Drew; I'm a detective slash reporter."

"What?" Mia asked, confused.

"I'm here investigating the murder of Abby Collins," Nancy said.

"But they already have the guy who did it," Mia sais slowly.

Nancy shook her head. "The guy they think did it, is my brother-in-law, Joe. I'm here to try to clear his name."

"I don't understand," Mia said. "They have his fingerprints on the knife."

"He was framed for the murder," Nancy said.

"By who?" Mia asked.

Nancy hesitated–_this wasn't going to be easy._ "Your father."

Mia jumped up from her seat. "That's ridiculous! My father would never do anything like that!"

"That's not what Abby said," Nancy said calmly. "Joe found her in the casino lobby crying. They went up to his room and she told him everything. Abby had seen your father killing someone and she was worried that he had seen her. Joe was going to help her, but it was too late."

"You're lying," Mia said, shaking her head in shock.

"I wish to God I was, Mia," Nancy said, softly. "Your father murdered Abby and made Joe watch. Then he framed Joe for the murder."

"Get out," Mia whispered.

"But–" Nancy began.

"Get out before I call security," Mia said. "You have some nerve, you know. I just lost my best friend and now you come in here and tell me that my _father _killed her."

"Mia, I'm sorry," Nancy said.

Mia scoffed. "Right...I can see how sorry you are."

Nancy wanted to ask about the tapes, but she didn't think it was the right time. Mia was in shock right now and she was having a hard time believing anything that she was saying. Nancy grabbed her bag and walked out of Mia's office.

_I guess I have to find the tapes on my own._

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"Is Nancy gone?" Joe asked when he walked back into the hotel room.

Frank nodded his head. "She's going to look for the tapes that you were talking about."

"And you let her go alone?" Joe asked, outraged.

"I didn't _let _her do anything," Frank said. "She wouldn't listen to me."

Joe ran a hand through his short blond hair and sighed.

"She said she would call me at the first sign of trouble," Frank said.

"If she's even able to," Joe said.

"You think I'm not worried enough as it is?" Frank asked.

Joe was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He opened the door to find Carson Drew.

"Mr. Drew, how are you feeling?" Joe asked.

"Much better. Thank you for asking, Joe." Carson said as he came into the room.

"So, do you have something new for us?" Frank asked.

"I just got a phone call from the police station," Carson said. "They want to see us in an hour."

"Did they say what it was about?" Joe asked, hopefully.

Carson shook his head. "No. Sorry." He looked around the room. "Where's Nancy?"

"Oh, she's out running a couple of errands," Frank answered.

"This early in the morning?" Carson asked.

"She said they were important and couldn't be put off," Frank improvised.

"Well, I guess she could just meet us at the station later," Carson said.

"I'll call her and let her know," Frank said.

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Nancy was feeling pretty crummy after leaving Mia. It was never easy to tell someone that their father was a murderer. And Nancy couldn't really blame her for being angry with her. She would have reacted the exact same way if the roles had been reversed.

But there was no time to worry about hurting Mia's feelings. She had to get to Grayson's office and find those tapes. Nancy looked in the company directory and found that his office was on the sixth floor. Just as she was about to step into the elevator, her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Nancy said.

"Hey, Nancy. It's me." Frank said.

"What's going on?" Nancy asked. She stepped away from the elevators.

"The police just let Joe go," Frank said.

"What? How?" Nancy asked.

"They said something about contaminated evidence. It never would have held up in court," Frank explained.

"Frank, that's great news!" Nancy said.

"Yeah, so that means you don't have to look for those tapes," Frank said.

"Are you kidding? Of course I do." Nancy said. "I just told Mia that her father is a killer and I'm not letting him get away with this."

"Nancy, it could be too dangerous," Frank argued.

"I don't care, Frank. They could still try to pin this thing on Joe if Grayson keeps going after him. And, besides, we owe it to Mia and Abby," Nancy said.

"At least let me come with you," Frank said.

"I'm already on my way up to Grayson's office," Nancy said. "I'll call you as soon as I find anything out."

She hung up the phone before he could say anything else. She turned her phone on silent because she knew he would try to call her again and talk her out of it. She couldn't afford any interruptions right now.

Nancy got on the elevator and rode it up to the sixth floor. The directory had said it was room number 615. She walked down the hall and stopped at the room. She looked around and made sure no one was watching before she pulled out her lock-picking kit. It was amazing–after all these years and she still found that she used it a lot.

Nancy got the door open in two minutes and slipped in quietly. The office was dark, so she pulled out her penlight and shined it around the room. She spotted a lamp on the desk; she made her way over and turned it on.

She wasn't surprised with how neat and tidy everything was in the office. Grayson seemed the type of person who would take great care of his personal space. She carefully went through each drawer in the desk.She was going through the last drawer when she saw a flash of gold. She moved some papers out of the way, and there, lyingat the bottom of the drawer wasthe matching eagle cufflink.

Nancy smiled to herself as shegrabbed a Kleenex from Grayson's desk and carefully picked up the cufflink without touching it. She wrapped it in the tissue and stuffed it into her bag.She then moved over to the file cabinets. Of course, Grayson kept them locked, but Nancy had them open in no time.

She went through each of the drawers butdidn't turn up anything. She was starting to get frustrated. She just knew for sure that Grayson would keep those tapes in his office!

Nancy froze when she heard a noise outside the door.

_Grayson!_ she thought wildly.

Nancy looked all over the room for a hiding spot, but it was too late. The door opened and she was about to be caught red-handed!

"What are you doing in here?"

Nancy turned around and looked at the person standing in the doorway of Grayson's office.

"Mia!" she said, letting out a relieved sigh.

"Nancy, answer my question. What are you doing in here?" Mia asked. Then it hit her. "You're looking for something to use against my father, aren't you?"

"Mia, I'm sorry. But if I can just find the tapes that Abby was talking about, then I could offer you the proof that you need." Nancy said.

Mia looked at Nancy, confused. "Tapes? What tapes are you talking about?"

"Tapes that you father keeps of his business dealings," Nancy explained.

"How would Abby know about this?" Mia asked.

"You did know that your father and Abby were dating, didn't you?" Nancy asked slowly.

Mia's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"Oh, God." Nancy closed her eyes. "They really kept you in the dark about a lot of things, didn't they?"

Mia closed the door and sank into the chair sitting in front of the desk. "It seems I don't know them as well as I thought I did."

"Mia, I know I'm hitting you with all of this at one time and it probably hasn't entirely sunk in. But I have to find those tapes that Abby was talking about. Your father is wanting to frame an innocent man for a crime he didn't commit and I can't condone that.

"Joe and I may not get along a lot of times, but he is family. And I protect my family." Nancy saw that Mia was just shaking her head so she decided to try a different path–one that would go directly to her heart.

"Mia–I'm pregnant," Nancy said. Mia looked up at her. She had definitely gotten her attention now. "I want Joe to be there when his niece or nephew is born. I want my child to grow up with their uncle. And if he's in jail for a murder that he had no part of, then he'll miss all of that and they'll miss out on the chance of knowing a wonderful person who is full of love and passion.

"Would you be able to sit back and watch him go to jail when there was evidence all along that someone else did it? Would you be able to live with yourself?" Nancy asked.

"But, we're talking about my father," Mia said. "The man who has raised me since I was a child."

"I know and it makes your decision to help methat muchharder. I wish that you didn't have to be involved in this at all. You're a good person, Mia. But if you help your father get away with this, then you're just like him." Nancy said, firmly.

Mia jumped as if Nancy had slapped her in the face. "I'm not a murderer, Nancy."

"I know you're not, Mia," Nancy said. "So, please, help me."

Mia remained silent for a few moments, thinking about what Nancy had said to her. Nancy looked at her anxiously, wondering if she had pushed too hard.

"He usually keeps his security tapes in a room behind the bookcase," Mia said quietly.

Nancy smiled at Mia. "Thank you so much, Mia."

Mia said nothing as she walked to the bookcase and pulled at a book. The bookcase swung open quietly, revealing a room that was lined floor to ceiling with VHS tapes. Upon closer inspection, Nancy saw that each tape had a label with a date on it.

"Would these include his personal tapes?" Nancy asked.

"They're in the corner over there," Mia said, pointing. "But you really need to hurry, Nancy. If my father catches us in here, he won't be happy at all."

"I just need the tape from the night of Abby's murder. The police can look at these other tapes later," Nancy said.

She looked in Grayson's small personal collection and quickly found one from April 20th, the night of Abby's murder. She grabbed it and stood up.

"All right," Nancy said. "I need you to do something for me, Mia. I know I've already asked a lot out of you and I have no right at all to ask anything else–"

"What do you need, Nancy?" Mia asked.

"I need you to get this over to the police." Nancy said. "I would do it myself, but your father has had me watched for the past couple of days. I don't want him to get this tape and ruin any chances of the police catching Abby's real killer."

Mia took the tape and slipped in into her purse. They then stepped out of the small room and Mia closed the bookcase. "I'm only doing this for Abby," she said.

"That's all I ask," Nancy said. "I don't think we should leave the office at the same time, just in case. You go out first and then I'll go."

"You really think my father will do something to us?" Mia asked.

"To you–no. But he's already annoyed enough with me," Nancy said. "Listen, I'm going to go back to my hotel and get Frank and Joe. We'll meet you at the police station."

Mia nodded and slipped out of the office. Nancy waited five minutes and then quickly left. She hurried across the street to her hotel. She didn't even slow down as she headedtoward the elevators. She pressed the button for the fifteenth floor and waited impatiently for the doors to close. But before they could entirely close, a hand shot out and forced the doors open.

Nancy's breath caught in her throat when she saw that the hand belonged to Stuart Grayson. And standing beside him was Phil Minor.

"Nancy Drew," Grayson said, smiling at her. "Just the woman I was looking for."

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	14. A Losing Battle

Nancy seemed to be frozen to the spot. When she finally was able to move her legs, Grayson shook his head. "Let's not make a scene in front of everyone, Mrs. Drew. I would really hate to shoot you right here."

Nancy looked down and saw that he and Phil were holding guns and pointing them right at her. They got into the elevator and kept their weapons trained on her the entire time. "You make this a lot easier on me, you realize. Now I can take care of the three of you at one time."

Nancy didn't say anything as the elevator slowly made its way to the fifteenth floor. After what seemed to be an eternity, the elevator finally stopped and dinged as the doors slid open smoothly. Grayson grabbed her arm and escorted her to her room.

"Pull out your keycard and open the door," Grayson said.

Nancy dug in her purse until she found the slender card and inserted it into the door. The door clicked and Grayson nodded at Phil. Phil stepped in front of them and pushed open the door, pointing his gun into the room.

Nancy heard Frank's voice."Hey! What are you–" He stopped when he saw Grayson holding on to Nancy.

"That's far enough, Mr. Hardy," Grayson said, keeping his gun in Nancy's side. "Unless you want to be responsible for your wife's death."

Nancy saw a flicker of fear in Frank's eyes as he stepped back, but he quickly hid it. Nancy knew he was not only thinking of her, but the baby as well.

"Sit on the sofa," Grayson ordered Frank and Joe. "Why don't you join them as well, Nancy?"

Grayson let go of Nancy's arm and she went to sit on the sofa between Frank and Joe.

"Are you okay?" Frank whispered.

Nancy nodded her head, but kept her eyes on Grayson and Phil.

"So, did you come here to congratulate me?" Joe asked.

Grayson gave him a cold smile. "Not quite, Mr. Hardy. I'm here to take care of a few loose ends–meaning the three of _you_."

"You don't really think you'll get away with this, do you?" Joe asked.

"I've gotten away with one murder already," Grayson pointed out.

"Are you sure about that?" Nancy asked.

Grayson narrowed his eyes at Nancy. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you really should do a better job of cleaning up a murder scene," Nancy said.

Grayson looked sharply at Phil. Phil shook his head, clearly not knowing what Nancy was talking about.

"Let me explain," Nancy said, seeing the look on their faces. "The first day Frank and I were in Vegas, we searched Joe's room at your hotel. Right before Phil caught me in that room, I had already found the first piece of evidence that would clear Joe's name–a gold eagle cufflink."

Nancy smiled to herself when she saw the flash of panic in Grayson's eyes.

"You can't prove that cufflink is mine," Grayson said.

"But we _can _prove that it doesn't belong to Joe," Frank pointed out. "And by the look on your face, I have to say it's a pretty safe assumption that it _does _belong to you."

"You framed the wrong man. Mr. Grayson, when you decided to go after Joe," Nancy said quietly.

"That's obvious to me now," Grayson snapped bitterly. "I didn't know that it would be this much of a pain. But that's okay–I'm about to take care of the three of you right now."

"Can I ask you a question?" Joe asked.

"If you make it quick," Grayson said.

"Why did you have to kill Abby? Was she really that much of a threat to you?" Joe asked.

"I never wanted to kill her, but I had no choice. She had become a liability to me when she spied on me the other night. I had to protect myself," Grayson said.

"But she was your daughter's best friend," Nancy said. "Didn't you care what this would do to her?"

"How do you know about my daughter?" Grayson asked, giving Nancy a fierce look.

"I met her yesterday," Nancy answered. "You really should pay closer attention to everyone, Mr. Grayson."

"Yesterday–_you _were the intern," Grayson said.

Nancy nodded. "Mia told me that Abby was her best friend. How do you think she'll feel when she finds out that her father is responsible for her friend's death?"

"She'll never find out," Grayson said. "You won't be around to tell her."

"Well, it's probably a bad thing that she already knows," Nancy said.

Grayson walked the couple of steps to where she was sitting on the sofa and put his gun in her face. Nancy felt Frank and Joe tense next to her.

"What did you tell her?" Grayson yelled.

"Everything," Nancy answered calmly, even though her heart was about ready to burst out of her chest. "At first, she wouldn't listen to me."

"My Amelia is a smart girl," Grayson said, smugly.

Nancy nodded in agreement. "Yes, she is. But then I gave her the proof that she needed to believe me."

"What proof?" Grayson asked.

Joe picked up the conversation. "Abby told me that you like to keep a video of all of your 'business dealings'. She also said you have someone help you just in case you ever went down. I'm guessing that's why Phil was with you when you murdered Abby and that's why he's here right now."

_Way to go, _Nancy thought to herself. She saw Phil staring angrily at Grayson.

"That's right. I found the tape from Abby's murder. Mia showed me where you kept the tapes," Nancy said. Then she let a slow smile play on her lips. "In fact, I bet the police are enjoying that tape right now."

"But you didn't go to the police. We watched you come out of the Saraphina," Grayson said nervously.

"I guess it's a good thing I gave it to Mia then," Nancy said.

Grayson's face turned deep red and he started to shake with rage. "That just means I'll have to take acre of you right now."

Just then the door flew open and several officers, with their guns drawn, charged into the room.

"Stuart Grayson, drop your weapon now!"

Phil immediately let go of his weapon, but Grayson acted as if he didn't hear them.

"Daddy, please." He looked up from Nancy and the Hardys to see Mia come into the room. "It's over now."

Grayson seemed to lose the color in his face. "Mia...honey."

"I didn't want to believe it, Daddy," Mia said, tears falling down her cheeks.

Grayson dropped the gun and fell to his knees. He didn't even react as an officer snapped cuffs onto his wrists and read him his rights. The officer hauled him to his feet and they escorted him and Phil out of the room. Nancy looked over at Mia and gave her a small smile.

Mia said nothing, but gave Nancy a sad smile and walked out of the room.

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**Author's Note: I know this is such a short chapter, but I didn't want to drag it out forever. It would have been dull and boring and you would have let me know it was...so I decided to save you some trouble! I will have one more chapter just in order to close things up. As always, let me know what you think!**


	15. Time to Celebrate

After five hours of talking with the police and giving them their statements, Nancy, Frank and Joe were finally able to leave. They were all exhausted and ready to get some sleep at their hotel.

"Oh, I can't tell you how it feels to be walking out of this place," Joe commented as they walked out of the police station.

"Much better when you're not suspected of a crime," Frank said, patting his brother on the back.

"You've got that right," Joe said, grinning.

They were making their way to the rental car when someone started to call Nancy's name.

"Nancy!"

Nancy turned around to see Mia hurrying over to them.

"I'm glad I caught up to you before you left," Mia said, stopping to catch her breath.

"I was hoping that you would," Nancy said, smiling. "Mia, I'd like you to meet my husband, Frank and his brother, Joe."

Mia smiled at them. "It's really nice to meet you both." She looked at Joe and gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm really sorry that all of this happened to you."

"It's okay," Joe said with a wave of his hand.

"No, it isn't. You tried to help Abby and my father took advantage of that fact. And I didn't want to believe Nancy when she said that my father was capable of this," Mia said. "I'm glad that you were there for Abby. I know you would have helped her if you could. And I'm sure that she knew that, too."

"Thanks," Joe said, blushing a little. "That really means a lot to me."

Nancy grinned at Joe and then turned to Mia. "So what about you? Are you okay?"

Mia nodded. "As good as I can be, I guess. I don't think everything's quite sunk in yet."

"I'm really sorry that this happened to you," Nancy said, putting a hand on Mia's arm.

"I'm glad I found out what kind of man my father is," Mia said. "The police have looked at some of the other tapes and found out about a few other murders he had committed."

"Have you talked to your dad?" Nancy asked.

"All he could do was apologize to me over and over again," Mia said, sadly. "I think what hurts is that I'll never be able to look at him the same way again. But he's my father, you know? He always will be, no matter what."

"It was cruel of him to do that to you, Mia. To put you through the hurt and pain that you're going through now," Nancy said. "And it's better that you found out now. He would have kept this with him forever, leaving you in the dark. You would have resented the wrong person for Abby's death."

Mia nodded. "Everything that you're telling me is true. And I know that it will take a long time for me to forgive me, if I ever do."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Nancy asked.

"Well, I'm not staying here, I know that for sure. Who knows? Maybe I'll put my college education to good use," Mia said.

"Good luck," Nancy said, sincerely.

Mia smiled at her. "Yeah–you, too. With the baby and everything."

Nancy smiled and gave Mia a hug. Mia smiled at Frank and Joe and made her way to her car. Nancy grabbed Frank's hand and they made their way to theirs.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Frank asked.

Nancy nodded. "I really think she will."

"So, are you ready to go back home and celebrate?" Frank aaked, kissing Nancy on the forehead.

"Yeah," Nancy said smiling. "Oh, crap!"

"What?" Frank asked, alarmed.

"I still haven't told my dad about the baby," Nancy said.

"Not to mention my mom and dad, Aunt Gertrude, Bess, George..." Frank trailed off.

"All right, I know." Nancy said. "So I guess we'll have to hold off on our celebration for at least a couple of days."

"That's okay," Frank said. "I can wait. Besides, we have years to celebrate."

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A couple of days, Joe was pulling his car up in front of Vanessa's house. They really didn't get to talk much before and he really owed this to her. She had to know what was going on with him and that it wasn't her fault.

Joe walked up the flight of stairs and stopped in front of her apartment. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He heard footsteps and then nothing until he heard her speak.

"What do you want, Joe?" Vanessa asked.

"I need to talk to you, Van."

"I've been trying to talk to you for the last few days, Joe. Why start now?" Vanessa asked through the door.

"I was stupid, Vanessa. I know that; you know that. I'm a male–it's pretty much expected out of me." Joe waited for her to say something but she didn't. "Come on, Van. Open up."

It was a few moments until Joe heard her unlatch the lock and open the door.

"You were saying?" she asked.

"What I did was stupid. I should have stuck around and talked to you, but I didn't. I was a coward and I ran off," Joe said. "All I can do is say that I'm sorry."

Vanessa watched him, but didn't say anything.

"I see this isn't going to be easy," Joe commented.

"Do you think it was easy for me to wonder where you have been?" Vanessa asked. "I had to beg it out of Nancy and I shouldn't have had to. You should have told me, Joe."

"I know that," Joe said. "I realize that. But I'm not perfect–you know I'm not. But when you signed up for me, you weren't asking for perfection. You wanted someone who would love you; someone who would worship you.

"I wake up every morning and I'm thankful that I have you. You make every single day wonderful for me. I would go crazy if I didn't have you by my side. I love you, Vanessa. Always have–always will."

Vanessa looked at Joe with tears in her eyes. "That's what I've been wanting to hear for so long." She stood on her tip-toes and gave Joe and long lingering kiss.

"I think I have something better," Joe said.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He dropped to one knee and opened the box.

"Vanessa, I'll always be here for you. I'm not going anywhere for a long, long time. Will you marry me?"

Vanessa burst into tears and dropped down and kissed Joe again.

"I'm taking that as a yes," Joe said.

Vanessa laughed. "Yes, Joe Hardy. Yes, I will marry you."

Joe took the ring out with a trembling hand and slipped it onto her finger.

"It looks beautiful there," he said softly.

"I love you, Joe."

"I love you, too," Joe said.

Vanessa stood up and held out a hand to Joe. "So, do you want to go inside?"

Joe took her hand and smiled at her. "I thought you'd never ask."

She led the way into her apartment. Joe trailed behind her and stopped to see if anyone was watching them. Satisfied that there wasn't anyone, he went into the apartment and closed the door.

Vanessa's laughter and squeals of delight could be heard on the other side of the door.

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**Author's Note: Well, the end of another story...sad, huh? I hope that everyone really enjoyed this story and I hope the ending was good for you. Kind of makes you think that Joe is growing up a little...**

**Well, I will have another story coming up, but sadly, you will have to wait for the birth of Nancy and Frank's baby. I'm going to be writing another thriller first. Hope to see you around at my next story!**


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